Beechcraft E18S N916TM

Summary

On 2 October 1997 at about 11:05 local time, a Beechcraft E18S registered N916TM, operated by MAY Air Xpress, was involved in an accident near Lake Elmo, Minnesota, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 October 1997 at 11:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Lake Elmo, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Lake Elmo (21D)

Coordinates

44.9893, -92.8998

Aircraft

Beechcraft E18S

Registration

N916TM

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

MAY Air Xpress

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Minneapolis

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CHI98LA003

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's failure identify the unsafe condition (vortex turbulence) which existed due to departing airplane and his subsequent inability to control the airplane once encountering the turbulence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that the airplane lifted off at 70 knots. After accelerating in ground effect the airplane became 'unstable in the roll axis' so he added power. He reported that the left wing tip contacted the runway approximately 3/4 the way down the runway. The pilot then added additional power at which point the left wing contacted the grass off the left side of the departure end of the runway. The pilot then reduced the power to idle and landed the airplane in the grass collapsing the landing gear. The pilot reported that the engines sounded normal throughout the accident sequence. Investigation revealed another Beech 18 had taken off on the same runway, but in the opposite direction of N916TM less than one minute prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.