Beechcraft BE-400A N679SJ

Summary

On 31 July 2009 at about 20:16 local time, a Beechcraft BE-400A registered N679SJ, operated by Comtran International Inc, was involved in an incident near Sugar Land, Texas, United States. 8 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

31 July 2009 at 20:16

Classification

Incident

Location

Sugar Land, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Sugar Land Municipal AIrport (SGR)

Coordinates

29.6222, -95.6564

Aircraft

Beechcraft BE-400A

Registration

N679SJ

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Comtran International Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sugar Land → New Orleans Lak

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN09IA481

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the spinner following an unavoidable bird strike. Contributing to the incident were the inadequate engine bird strike certification requirements in place at the time the engine was certified.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was on departure roll approaching 95 knots when one large and two smaller birds were observed flying across the plane’s flight path from left to right. The pilots were unable to react before at least one of the birds struck the airplane. The pilot stated that the right engine immediately lost all power and the crew subsequently rejected the takeoff. Postflight examination of the airplane revealed that all but one of the right engine’s fan blades were fractured and the inlet duct had separated from the front of the engine and was hanging by a bleed air duct. Bird remains from a 1 ½- to 2-pound juvenile yellow-crowned night heron were found on the runway and in the right engine. Examination of the engine revealed that the engine spinner had separated from the engine due to the bird strike and entered the engine, resulting in the liberation of the fan blades and subsequent failure of the engine. The engine was certified to ingest a four-pound goose. However, the certification requirements in place at the time did not require the spinner to be tested during the certification process. The certification requirements were later updated to require testing of the spinner.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.