Beechcraft 60 N105PP

Summary

On 4 December 2007 at about 12:22 local time, a Beechcraft 60 registered N105PP, operated by Daniel S. Hart, was involved in an accident near New Castle, Delaware, 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

4 December 2007 at 12:22

Classification

Accident

Location

New Castle, Delaware, United States

Nearest airport

New Castle Airport (ILG)

Coordinates

39.6756, -75.6122

Aircraft

Beechcraft 60

Registration

N105PP

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Daniel S. Hart

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

New Castle → Allentown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC08FA051

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed during a split flap takeoff, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident were the failure of the right flap drive mechanism and the pilot's failure to verify that both flaps were retracted prior to takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to a witness, prior to arriving in the run-up area the pilot lowered the airplane's flaps. After the right flap fully extended, the flap key on the drive shaft inside the 90-degree drive assembly adapter fractured, in overload, in the direction of flap extension. Before takeoff, the pilot raised the flaps; however, with the fractured key, the right flap would have remained fully extended. The pilot could have identified this condition prior to takeoff, either visually or by means of the flap indicator, which received its input from the right flap actuator. The pilot subsequently took off, and the airplane turned left, but it is unknown at what point the pilot would have noted a control problem. The pilot climbed the airplane to 250 to 300 feet and allowed the airspeed to bleed off to where the airplane stalled and subsequently spun into the ground. Airplane manufacturer calculations revealed that the pilot should have been able to maintain control of the airplane at airspeeds over 70 knots. According to the pilot's operating handbook, the best two-engine angle of climb airspeed was 99 knots and the best two-engine rate of climb airspeed was 120 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.