Beechcraft BE-56TC N7890R

Summary

On 23 May 1997 at about 13:58 local time, a Beechcraft BE-56TC registered N7890R, operated by Howard Boyle, was involved in an accident near Spring, Texas, United States. One person was 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

23 May 1997 at 13:58

Classification

Accident

Location

Spring, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

David Wayne Hooks (DWH)

Coordinates

29.6500, -95.5494

Aircraft

Beechcraft BE-56TC

Registration

N7890R

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Howard Boyle

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Nashville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW97LA200

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to perform an adequate preflight (did not remove pitot tube protective covering prior to flight) which resulted in an inaccurate cockpit airspeed indication during takeoff roll and subsequent emergency landing. Factors were, the pilot's diverted attention while performing his preflight (loose animal on the ramp), the pilot's failure to abort the takeoff after noticing an airspeed anomaly during takeoff roll, and the low ceiling (100 feet overcast) the pilot encountered after lift off and while returning to land.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Immediately after takeoff, the pilot informed the control tower that he was going to return to land. While landing, the left wing of the airplane struck the runway. He stated that a loose dog distracted him during the preflight as he had to close a hangar door to prevent the dog from entering. During takeoff roll, the engine instruments appeared normal, except for the airspeed indicator, which indicated 'sixty' knots. He continued down the 7,000 foot runway, and lifted off with the airspeed indicator still indicating about 'sixty'. After lift off, the pilot knew something was wrong and told the tower he was going to make a right turn to downwind and return for landing. After landing, the pilot noticed that the left wing and left propeller were damaged and that the pitot tube cover was still installed on the pitot tube. The estimated takeoff weight of the aircraft was about 5,100 pounds. The manufacturer's published airspeed for lift off at 5,500 pounds gross weight is 89 knots. The measured cloud cover (ceiling) at the time of the accident was 100 feet overcast with 1 mile visibility

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.