Beechcraft 58 N168CG

Summary

On 14 August 1995 at about 01:35 local time, a Beechcraft 58 registered N168CG, operated by Rene J. Nicol, was involved in an accident near Mapleton, Maine, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

14 August 1995 at 01:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Mapleton, Maine, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Beechcraft 58

Registration

N168CG

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Rene J. Nicol

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Caribou → Portsmouth

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Bright

NTSB number

NYC95FA188

1 person died.

The pilot inadvertently shut down the right engine and feathered the propeller after a loss of power in the left engine, and he failed to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin and collision with the ground. A factor relating to the accident was failure of the number six and number five connecting rods in the left engine, which resulted in a loss of power in that engine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed at night and initiated a climb to cruise altitude. A witness heard the engine(s) operating normally, and then silence. The witness then observed the airplane, descending and rotating in a nose down attitude. The airplane descended through trees, in a left spin, and impacted the ground. An examination revealed that both propellers were feathered, and the landing gear was retracted. The inspection of the left engine disclosed that the number six and number five connecting rods had failed, and the number four connecting rod had evidence of overheating. There was evidence that the number six rod had failed first, allowing for oil starvation and subsequent failure of the number five connecting rod.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.