2014 Wichita King Air crash

2014 Wichita King Air crash

A Beechcraft B200 Super King Air similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date	30 October 2014
Summary	Pilot error
Site	Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, Wichita, Kansas
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Beechcraft King Air B200
Operator	Gilleland Aviation
Registration	N52SZ
Flight origin	Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, Wichita, Kansas
Destination	Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport, Mena, Arkansas
Crew	1
Fatalities	4 (including 3 on the ground)
Injuries	5 (on the ground; 1 critical)
Missing	0
Survivors	0

At 9:48 a.m. on October 30, 2014, a Beechcraft King Air B200 crashed into the FlightSafety International (FSI) building shortly after takeoff from Wichita Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kansas, killing the pilot, three people in the building and injuring five others.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that the crash most likely occurred due to the pilots inability to successfully control the aircraft after a reduction in power from the left engine.

Aircraft and crew

The King Air B200 serial number BB-1686, was manufactured in 2000 and was powered by two Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42 turboprop engines turning four bladed Hartzell constant-speed propellers. The aircraft was owned and operated by Gilleland Aviation Inc who had purchased it two days prior to the accident flight. On October 22, 2014 major scheduled maintenance was completed, including internal inspections of both engines. The Beechcraft logged 1.4 hours flight time and two takeoff/landing cycles since this maintenance. Total airframe hours was 6,314 with 7,257 cycles at the time of the crash.^[1][2]

The pilot and sole occupant of the aircraft was a retired Air Traffic Controller, 53, from Wichita who held a valid Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) second-class medical certificate. Investigators determined he had at least 3,139 total flight hours, of which 2,843 were in multiengine airplanes.^[1]

Accident

The aircraft was operating a non scheduled repositioning flight to Mena, Arkansas. At 9:47 a.m. the flight was cleared by the control tower to fly the runway heading and climb to 5,000 feet altitude, shortly thereafter the take off roll began from runway 1R. Seconds after lift off the pilot reported "and tower just declaring an emergency ah we just lost loss the left engine". The aircraft made several oscillations in altitude then began a turn to the left climbing slowly. The Beechcraft continued turning left, missing the top of a hangar on the west side of the runway with marginal clearance. With the landing gear extended and in a 29 degree slip left, the aircraft impacted the northeast corner of the FSI building at 92 knots while descending at 1,600 feet per minute killing the pilot and three people in the building. The flight duration from lift off to impact was 26 seconds with the aircraft reaching a maximum altitude of approximately 120 feet above ground level (AGL).^[1][3][2]

Aftermath

Impact and fire destroyed most of the aircraft and the FSI building sustained fire and structural damage. NTSB investigators arrived within twelve hours, but were initially unable to enter the building due to structural safety concerns. Retrieval of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was a high priority so the day after the accident it was recovered from the wreckage on the roof of the FSI building by lowering a harnessed worker from a crane.^[4][1]

Investigation

Inspection of the aircraft systems, engines and propellers found no irregularities that could have prevented normal operation. In depth scrutiny of the propellers combined with a sound spectrum analysis led investigators to conclude the left engine was probably generating low to moderate power and the right engine was at a moderate to high power setting at the time of impact. Other evidence, including video taken by cameras around the airport, suggested that considerable left rudder input was applied by the pilot shortly before the crash. Correct reaction to a reduction in power from the left engine would have been right rudder input.^[1]

Examination of the CVR reveiled it had survived the crash with usable data intact. On the day of the accident at 9:46:13 a.m. sounds of the pilot preforming an engine run up test were recoded along with the words "prop test" in a whispered voice. 35 to 45 seconds later the word "trim" was whispered follow eight seconds later by a two word phrase starting with an expletive and ending in "it".^[5]

At 9:47:52 the words "We have 80 knots, feathers armed" were spoken and at 9:48:01 the sound of the propellers operating unsynchronized was recorded. At 9:48:05 a two word phrase starting with the word "the" and ending with an expletive was recorded then at 9:48:16 the pilot radioed the tower saying "and tower just declaring an emergency ah we just lost loss the left engine" followed almost immediately by the sound of the stall warning horn. The horn was recorded twice more than at 9:48:25 the pilot spoke a phrase starting with an expletive and ending "we're going in we're dead".^[1][2][5]

Emergency procedures call for the malfunctioning engines propeller to be feathered and the landing gear to be retracted for an engine failure during takeoff. Inspection of the aircraft revealed that neither propeller was feathered and the landing gear was extended. The aircraft was equipped with an autofeather system and a rudder boost system but their operational condition at the time of the crash is unknown due extensive post crash fire damage. On March 1, 2016 the NTSB released its final report on the accident and states under the heading Probable Cause and Findings that:^[1]

"The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: The pilot's failure to maintain lateral control of the airplane after a reduction in left engine power and his application of inappropriate rudder input. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to follow the emergency procedures for an engine failure during takeoff. Also contributing to the accident was the left engine power reduction for reasons that could not be determined because a postaccident examination did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation and thermal damage precluded a complete examination".^[1][2]

See also

• 2002 Pirelli Tower airplane crash
• 2002 Tampa airplane crash
• 2006 New York City plane crash
• 2010 Austin suicide attack
• Air Midwest Flight 5481

References