Beechcraft C90 N350WA

Summary

On 27 January 2014 at about 13:30 local time, a Beechcraft C90 registered N350WA, operated by Eldorado Air LLC, was involved in an accident near Columbia, California, United States. 2 people were 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

27 January 2014 at 13:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Columbia, California, United States

Nearest airport

Columbia (O22)

Coordinates

38.0294, -120.4133

Aircraft

Beechcraft C90

Registration

N350WA

Category

Airplane

Year built

1978

Engines

2

Operator

Eldorado Air LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sacramento → Columbia

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

WPR14LA102

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s unstabilized night visual approach, which resulted in a hard landing and the collapse of all three landing gear.            

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot, who was the pilot flying (PF), and the airplane transport pilot, who was the pilot not flying (PNF), were conducting an aeromedical positioning flight. The pilots reported that, during a night approach, they visually identified the airport, activated the runway lighting system, and then canceled the instrument flight plan for a visual approach. The PNF reported that, after turning onto the final approach, the flaps were fully lowered and that the airplane was in a "wings level, stabilized approach." The PF reported that he was initially using the vertical approach slope indicator (VASI) for guidance but that the airplane drifted below the glidepath during the approach, and he did not correct back to the glidepath. On short final, the pilots verified that the landing gear were in the down-and-locked position by noting the illumination of the three green landing gear indicator lights, and the airspeed indicator indicated 110 knots. Both pilots reported that the landing was "firm" and that it was followed by a loud bang and the subsequent failure of all three landing gear. The airplane slid on its belly for about 825 ft down the runway before coming to rest. Both pilots evacuated the airplane, which was subsequently consumed by a postaccident fire. Both pilots reported that the airplane was operating normally with no discrepancies noted. Postaccident examination of the wreckage at the accident site revealed that the airplane impacted the runway about 100 ft short of its displaced threshold. Broken components of the landing gear were located along the debris field, which extended about 565 ft beyond the initial impact point. It is likely that the PF's failure to correct and maintain the VASI glidepath after allowing the airplane to descend below the glidepath and the touchdown at a high descent rate resulted in a hard landing and the subsequent failure of all three landing gear.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.