Beechcraft A36 N100XH

Summary

On 13 August 2000 at about 22:20 local time, a Beechcraft A36 registered N100XH, operated by Simon V. Habermand, was involved in an accident near Sloatsburg, New York, 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

13 August 2000 at 22:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Sloatsburg, New York, United States

Coordinates

41.1606, -74.1895

Aircraft

Beechcraft A36

Registration

N100XH

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Simon V. Habermand

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Teterboro → Keene

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC00LA270

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control. A factor was the pilot's diverted attention.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that while flying in IMC, he was having difficulty with the autopilot. Specifically, he was having problems holding assigned headings, and engaging the autopilot. The airplane then began a rapid descent, but the pilot was able to recover once in VMC. Prior to the accident flight, the pilot experienced difficulty with another airplane. In that airplane, with a different model autopilot, he lost control while landing. According to representatives from the airplane and autopilot manufacturers, the pilot and owner complained about autopilot problems in the past. However, on at least two occasions prior to the accident flight, the owner or pilot of the airplane had been operating the autopilot while the airplane was outside the specifications for safe autopilot operation. Prior to the accident, three separate test flights did not reveal any malfunctions. After the accident, the pilot stated that he might have departed with the autopilot in the slaved nav heading disengaged mode. Subsequently, data retrieved from the autopilot did not indicate any malfunctions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.