Loss of control Accident Beechcraft D95A Travel Air N76S,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 190491
 
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Date:Tuesday 4 October 2016
Time:18:26
Type:Silhouette image of generic BE95 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Beechcraft D95A Travel Air
Owner/operator:Private
Registration: N76S
MSN: TD-605
Year of manufacture:1965
Engine model:Lycoming IO-360-B1B
Fatalities:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:Galveston County, Hitchcock, TX -   United States of America
Phase: En route
Nature:Training
Departure airport:Houston, TX (LVJ)
Destination airport:Houston, TX (LVJ)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
A flight instructor and private pilot receiving instruction departed on the accident flight to practice aerodynamic stalls in the multiengine airplane. After the accident, the pilot recalled that the instructor initiated an aerodynamic stall maneuver about 4,000 ft mean sea level, then recalled the instructor "cursing" the airplane when it would not recover from the stall. The pilot could not recall any further details of the accident flight. A witness about one 1 mile south of the accident site saw the airplane descending in a fully- developed right spin. Data retrieved from an onboard GPS unit revealed that the airplane entered a climb from about 4,000 ft, reaching a peak altitude of about 4,800 ft. The airplane then immediately entered a descent that continued until the end of the recorded data. Post-accident examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

Review of the flight instructor's logbooks indicated that he had accumulated over 9,800 total hours of flight experience, with over 4,600 hours in multiengine airplanes; however, he had only accumulated 16 hours in the 11 years before the accident. He had logged about 11 hours in the accident airplane, of which about 6 hours were as a flight instructor, all within the previous two months. His logbooks did not indicate that he had previously practiced aerodynamic stalls in the accident airplane; therefore, he was likely unfamiliar with the airplane's stall characteristics.

Following a series of fatal accidents in Beech Baron/Travel Air airplanes between 1978 and 1980, the National Transportation Safety Board issued safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration, stating that these airplanes have a propensity for entering flat spins under high asymmetric power and low speed conditions; such conditions are frequently encountered during multiengine emergency (engine-out) training. It is likely that, while demonstrating aerodynamic stalls, the airplane entered a spin from which the flight instructor was unable to recover.
Probable Cause: The flight instructor's loss of control during an aerodynamic stall demonstration, which resulted in an inadvertent spin from which he was unable to recover. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor's lack of familiarity with the airplane's stall characteristics.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: CEN17FA005
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB

https://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N76S

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
05-Oct-2016 03:01 Geno Added
05-Oct-2016 07:38 gerard57 Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage]
05-Oct-2016 08:18 harro Updated [Aircraft type]
05-Oct-2016 14:10 Geno Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
05-Oct-2016 20:24 Geno Updated [Time, Operator, Source, Narrative]
16-Nov-2017 07:45 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]

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