ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 275888
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| Date: | Thursday 24 February 2022 |
| Time: | 16:56 |
| Type: |  Beechcraft 35-C33 Debonair |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N6129V |
| MSN: | CD-858 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1965 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 6782 hours |
| Engine model: | Continental IO-520-BA |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Hilltown Township, PA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Doylestown Airport, PA (DYL/KDYL) |
| Doylestown Airport, PA (DYL/KDYL) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On February 24, 2022, about 1656 eastern standard time, a Beech 35-C33, N6129V, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Hilltown Township, Pennsylvania. The flight instructor and the pilot receiving instruction were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.
The flight instructor and the pilot receiving instruction were conducting a flight in an airplane that the pilot receiving instruction owned, and the purpose of the accident flight was to prepare him for the commercial pilot practical examination. About 30 minutes after takeoff, the airplane was maneuvering at an altitude of about 1,600 ft above ground level. The airplane then entered a left spin and descended toward the ground, impacting a residential street.
A witness stated that he heard a single-engine airplane overhead and thought the airplane’s loud engine sound did not match its slow airspeed, which meant to him that the airplane was most likely in a steep climb to practice a stall. The witness looked up again and saw the airplane diving almost straight down and twisting toward the ground.
Examination of the wreckage revealed no preimpact mechanical malfunctions. Review of automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data revealed that the airplane’s maneuvers during the final portion of flight were conducted below its flaps-up, idle power stall speed and were twice briefly below the flaps-down stall speed. During the final 30 seconds of flight, the airplane rolled rapidly to the left when engine noise was reduced. The airplane’s rapid left roll and loss of altitude were consistent with an aerodynamic stall. Thus, the pilot who was flying (which could not be determined based on the available evidence) allowed the airplane’s critical angle of attack to be exceeded, resulting in a loss of airplane control.
Toxicological testing detected ethanol and metoprolol in the flight instructor’s specimens. The most likely source of the ethanol was postmortem production; therefore, the identified ethanol did not contribute to the circumstances of the accident. Although direct effects from the flight instructor’s use of metoprolol likely did not contribute to the events, the available evidence precluded a determination of whether effects from the flight instructor’s recent heart attack and underlying heart disease contributed to the circumstances of the accident. In addition, if the flight instructor had experienced a medical event during the flight, should have been reasonable able to control the airplane.
Probable Cause: The pilots’ exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack while practicing maneuvers during an instructional flight, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and and a loss of airplane control.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/story/news/2022/02/24/hilltown-perkasie-bucks-county-plane-crash-brittany-morgan-police-emergency-fatal/6931278001/
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/1-dead-in-small-plane-crash-in-perkasie-bucks-county/3157838/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/plane-crash-bucks-county-pennsylvania-b2022933.html
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=104702
https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=6129V
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N6129V/history/20220224/2126Z/KDYL/PS54
https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a7f9d3
https://live.staticflickr.com/4892/46908316402_95f93fc177_b.jpg (photo)
Location
Images:
Media:
NTSB is investigating the Feb. 24, crash of a Beech 35-C33 airplane near Hilltown Township, Pennsylvania.
— NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) February 25, 2022
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Feb-2022 01:54 | Geno | Added |
| 25-Feb-2022 05:49 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 25-Feb-2022 08:11 | aaronwk | Updated [Time, Nature, Source, Narrative] |
| 25-Feb-2022 11:09 | Captain Adam | Updated [Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 26-Feb-2022 09:47 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Embed code] |
| 10-Mar-2022 15:06 | aaronwk | Updated [Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category] |
| 10-Mar-2022 15:07 | harro | Updated [Narrative] |
| 14-Jun-2022 11:08 | Captain Adam | Updated [Embed code, Narrative] |
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