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airport. He attempted to extend the landing
gear, but the down-and-locked annunciator light
for the left main landing gear did not illuminate.
“The pilot confirmed that he had an unsafe
gear indication on the left main landing gear,”
the NTSB report said. “He then actuated the test
switch, and all three lamps illuminated, demonstrating
that he did not have a burned-out
indicating lamp.”
The pilot cycled the gear, but the problem
persisted. He said that while subsequently using
the backup manual gear-extension system,
“the pressure required to pump the gear down
became greater and greater until something gave
PISTON AIRPLANES
Engine Fails on Takeoff
Beech E18S. Destroyed. One fatality.
Shortly after taking off from Runway 09L at
Opa-Locka (Florida, U.S.) Executive Airport
for a cargo flight to the Bahamas the morning
of May 2, 2011, the pilot told ATC that he
was turning downwind, rather than departing to
the east, as planned.
“According to witnesses, the airplane did
not sound like it was developing full power,”
the NTSB report said. “The airplane climbed
about 100 feet, banked to the left, began
losing altitude and impacted a tree, a fence
and two vehicles before coming to rest in a
residential area.” The pilot, alone in the airplane,
was killed, but no one on the ground
was hurt.
Investigators found that the pilot “had
been having problems with the no. 2 [right]
engine for months [but] continued to fly the
airplane,” the report said, noting that the
Twin Beech had been parked outside in a
moist environment.
Examination of the right engine revealed
several discrepancies that would have caused
“erratic and unreliable operation,” including internal
corrosion preventing both magnetos and
the fuel pump from functioning properly, and
low compression in four of the nine cylinders.
way,” and the annunciator for light the left main
gear did not illuminate.
“The pilot completed the landing on the
nose and right main landing gear, which resulted
in substantial damage to the left wing and
fuselage,” the report said.
Examination of the left main landing gear
revealed that the supports for the actuator
bearings lacked adequate lubrication and were
worn. Investigators were unable to determine
whether the actuator had not been lubricated
properly during installation 31 months earlier
or subsequent inspections did not detect a loss
of lubrication.
The report also said that the engine likely
had lost power on takeoff and that “there was no
evidence that the pilot attempted to perform the
manufacturer’s published single-engine procedure,
which would have allowed him to maintain
altitude. Contrary to the procedure, the
left and right throttle control levers were in the
full-throttle position, the mixture control levers
were in the full-rich position, neither propeller
was feathered, and the landing gear was down.”
Parking Brake Overlooked
De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver. Substantial damage. No injuries.
After landing the single-engine airplane at
a base camp on the Tahiltna Glacier in
Alaska, U.S., on May 22, 2012, the pilot
raised the landing skis, placing the Beaver on its
wheels, and set the parking brake to prevent the
airplane from sliding.
Later, while preparing to depart from the
base camp, the pilot lowered the skis but forgot to
release the parking brake, the NTSB report said.
The parking brake was still set when the
pilot conducted a wheel landing on a hard-surfaced
runway in Talkeetna. The Beaver came
to an abrupt stop and pitched nose-down; the
horizontal stabilizer was substantially damaged
when it fell back onto the runway. The pilot
and four passengers were not hurt.
58 | FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION | AEROSAFETYWORLD | MAY 2013