Beechcraft E 90 N891PC

Summary

On 28 August 2015 at about 19:00 local time, a Beechcraft E 90 registered N891PC, operated by Chopaire LLC, was involved in an accident near Fayetteville, Tennessee, 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

28 August 2015 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Fayetteville, Tennessee, United States

Coordinates

35.1394, -86.6822

Aircraft

Beechcraft E 90

Registration

N891PC

Category

Airplane

Year built

1973

Engines

2

Operator

Chopaire LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Shelbyville → Huntsville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15LA333

Nobody was injured.

A total loss of electrical power for reasons that could not be determined and the pilot's subsequent failure to properly follow the manual landing gear extension procedures, which resulted in the landing gear not extending.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Shortly after takeoff in day visual meteorological conditions, when the airplane was climbing through 3,000 ft mean sea level, a complete electrical failure occurred that affected electrical instrumentation and additional airplane equipment, including the landing gear. The pilot reported that he performed the electrical failure checklists and could not restore power. After additional troubleshooting with no success, he chose to divert to and land at another airport. While in the traffic pattern at his diversion airport, he attempted to lower the landing gear using the emergency landing gear extension procedures but could not confirm the landing gear were down and locked. Without any capability to communicate or confirmation that the landing gear were down, he decided to leave the airport traffic pattern and land on a nearby field to avoid airport traffic; the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, landing gear doors, engines, and propellers during the off-airport landing. The reason for the loss of electrical power could not be determined. Examination of the cockpit revealed that the landing gear's emergency engage handle, also known as the "J" handle, was not pulled up and turned, which was one of the steps listed in the airplane flight manual for the manual landing gear extension procedure. The "J" handle engages the clutch and allows for the handle to operate the landing gear chain. Without engaging the "J" handle, the landing gear handle pumping action would not have worked, which resulted in the gear-up landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.