Beechcraft 400A N412GJ

Summary

On 13 May 2014 at about 18:11 local time, a Beechcraft 400A registered N412GJ, operated by Georgia Jet, was involved in an incident near Sugar Land, Texas, United States. 2 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

13 May 2014 at 18:11

Classification

Incident

Location

Sugar Land, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Sugar Land Regional Airport (SGR)

Coordinates

29.6275, -95.6572

Aircraft

Beechcraft 400A

Registration

N412GJ

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Georgia Jet

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

Unk

Light

Day

NTSB number

ENG14IA013

Nobody was injured.

The probable cause of the uncontained No. 2 engine failure on the Raytheon Beechjet 400A was a yellow-crowned night-heron birdstrike that resulted in fan blade contact with the inlet case and rub induced excitation of a previously unidentified natural frequency (resonance) within the engine operating range.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The No. 2 engine sustained a yellow-crowned night-heron birdstrike during takeoff roll from Sugar Land Regional Airport (SGR)- Sugar Land, Texas. The impact from the birdstrike resulted in contact between the fan and inlet case that separated all nineteen (19) fan blades. The released blade fragments penetrated the engine case and cowl and caused an engine fire. A blade fragment impacted the right wing and punctured the fuel tank resulting in fuel spillage onto the wing surface and runway. Materials analysis on recovered fan blade fragments determined that all separated blades failed due to overload and no evidence of fatigue was identified. A series of modal tests including: tap hammer, high energy shaker, and computer model simulation were conducted at the system and component level. The tests identified a four nodal diameter coincidence at about 72% N1 speed. When sufficient energy is imparted to the engine fan during a foreign object ingestion event like a birdstrike, it may result in a rub induced excitation and subsequent fan blade separation and catastrophic engine failure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.