Beechcraft N35 N390Z

Summary

On 12 August 2015 at about 13:30 local time, a Beechcraft N35 registered N390Z was involved in an accident near Weirsdale, Florida, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 August 2015 at 13:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Weirsdale, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Love's Landing (97FL)

Coordinates

28.9694, -81.8917

Aircraft

Beechcraft N35

Registration

N390Z

Category

Airplane

Year built

1961

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Weirsdale → Fort Myers

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15FA308

2 people died.

A partial loss of engine power during takeoff. The reason for the partial loss of power could not be determined due to the extensive fire and impact damage to the engine.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airline transport pilot was departing in his airplane on a personal flight. A witness, who was a pilot and had seen the airplane take off many times before, reported that, on this takeoff, the airplane appeared lower and slower than he expected. He further noted that the engine initially sounded normal but then started to "stall" as if a cylinder was "missing." The airplane impacted tress about 1,000 ft past the end of the runway and was partially consumed by a postcrash fire. Damage to the propeller blades was indicative of some engine power being produced at the time of impact. Examination of the engine's throttle body metering unit revealed that the mixture control arm remained attached to the unit; however, when turned, it rotated on the shaft with no shaft movement. Disassembly of the unit revealed the internal splines of the throttle and mixture arms were stripped, and brass material from the bronze arms was transferred to the external splines of the steel shafts. The bronze arms should have been replaced with stainless steel arms per a service bulletin issued by the engine manufacturer 8 years before the accident. Because of impact and fire damage to the metering unit; it could not be determined if the stripped arms were the result of impact or an undertorque condition.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.