Aviation Accident Summaries

Aviation Accident Summary CEN10LA090

Kearney, NE, USA

Aircraft #1

N206AV

BEECH C-99

Analysis

The pilot reported that the airplane picked up light to moderate icing on approach to land and that he cycled the deicing boots once prior to the final approach fix. The pilot was established on the instrument landing system approach when he broke out of the weather about 250 feet above ground level. He estimated that the approach brought the airplane 60 feet right of the runway centerline so he made a correction to align the airplane with the runway. When the airplane returned to level flight and was about 25 feet above the runway, the left wing stalled and the airplane landed hard on the left main landing gear, bending the rear spar of the left wing. During the postaccident inspection of the airplane, ice was noted on the wings and deicing boots. The pilot did not recall the stall warning horn activating during the approach. The stall warning horn’s circuit breaker was found to be tripped during the postaccident inspection. The cause of the tripped circuit breaker could not be determined. An examination of the remaining systems revealed no anomalies.

Factual Information

On January 6, 2010, at 0635 central standard time, a Beech C-99, N206AV, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at Kearney Municipal Airport (EAR), Kearney, Nebraska. The commercial pilot was not injured. The non-scheduled cargo flight, operated by Ameriflight, LLC., was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 with an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plan. The cross-country flight originated at Eppley Airfield (OMA), Omaha, Nebraska, and was en route to EAR. According to the pilot, the airplane picked up light to moderate icing during the approach and he cycled the deicing boots once prior to the final approach fix. The pilot reported that he was established on the instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 36 at 120 knots indicated airspeed, configured with landing gear down, and 30 percent flaps, when he broke out of the weather about 250 feet above ground level. The pilot estimated that the approach brought the airplane 60 feet right of the runway centerline so he made a correction to align the airplane with the runway. The pilot continued that when the airplane was wings level and about 25 feet above the runway the left wing stalled and the airplane landed hard on the left main landing gear, bending the rear spar of the left wing. During the postflight inspection of the airplane there was 3/8 to 1/2 inch of ice observed on portions of the airplane’s wings, including the leading edge surfaces of the deicing boots. The pilot further reported that he did not recall the stall warning horn activating during the approach. Weather at EAR at 0635 was reported as 21 degrees Fahrenheit (F), dew point 19 degrees F, visibility ½ mile with freezing fog, ceiling 200 feet overcast, and winds from 130 degrees at 4 knots. The STALL WARN POWER circuit breaker was found popped during the postaccident inspection. The cause of the popped circuit breaker could not be determined. An examination of the remaining systems revealed no anomalies.

Probable Cause and Findings

The failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed during the approach resulting in a stall. Contributing to the accident was the accumulation of structural icing during the flight.

 

Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database

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