Beechcraft S35 N711HZ

Summary

On 17 September 2000 at about 17:51 local time, a Beechcraft S35 registered N711HZ was involved in an accident near Longmont, Colorado, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 September 2000 at 17:51

Classification

Accident

Location

Longmont, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Beechcraft S35

Registration

N711HZ

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Boulder → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN00FA175

2 people died.

The pilot/passenger's failure to maintain aircraft control, and the pilot in command's inadequate supervision of the flight. A factor was the pilot/passenger's lack of experience in aircraft type.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses described the airplane as 'attempting a full throttle climb' at 'low altitude' before rolling inverted and descending in a near vertical attitude. The two pilots were brothers and both were retired airline pilots. The left seat pilot owned a share in the airplane and had logged 50 hours in make/model. The right seat pilot had flown light aircraft previously, but had never flown the Beech S35. Wreckage examination disclosed the landing gear was up and the flaps were fully deployed. The throttle, mixture, and propeller controls were full forward. The throwover control wheel was in the right position. According to pilots familiar with the S35 Bonanza, it has conventional flight and stall characteristics in uncoordinated flight or in a cross-controlled stall. Chapter 5-2 of FAA's 'Airplane Flying Handbook' (FAA-H-8033-3) states: 'In a cross-control stall, the airplane often stalls with little warning. The nose may pitch down, the inside wing may suddenly drop, and the airplane may continue to roll to an inverted position. This is usually the beginning of a spin. It is obvious that close to the ground is no place to allow this to happen. Recovery must be made before the airplane enters an abnormal attitude (vertical spiral or spin); it is a simple matter to return to straight-and-level flight by coordinated use of the controls. The pilot must be able to recognize when this stall is imminent and must take immediate action to prevent a completely stalled condition. It is imperative that this type of stall not occur during an actual approach to a landing, since recovery may be impossible prior to ground contact due to the low altitude.'

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.