King Air crashes into Flight Safety building in Wichita KS

[flyinthebug]

Initial reports are 4 dead and 6 injured. They said it was a Beechcraft King Air but didn't specify model. I hope everyone on course right now are safe!!

http://news.yahoo.com/crews-respond-ris ... 38929.html

[flyinthebug]

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[CpnCrunch]

I think the other thread should really be moved here. For some reason people seem to be posting accidents in the General section recently.

[flyinthebug]

I think the other thread should really be moved here. For some reason people seem to be posting accidents in the General section recently.

I kind of thought the exact same thing...but he posted his first so maybe the mods can move it over here.

RIP to those lost in this horrible accident.

[bizjets101]

Fingers crossed - hit the Flight Safety Citation building - was a 2009 Super King Air B200 N52SZ that had just been sold to a Beechcraft dealer - the sole pilot was killed along with 3 people in the building.

Update - my friend I believe is at FSI in Orlando his week - swoosh ...

[bmc]

http://ksn.com/2014/10/30/interview-with-ron-ryan/

[Old fella]

A 200 is a pretty good airplane, got a few years time on it myself(like a good many on this site) and not a demanding aircraft as some other types can be, at least that is how I see it. It was a nice day there and no pax which would suggest the a/c was well below MTGW and autofeather. Be interesting to see what the NTSB determines. It was a single pilot operation so who knows..........

[PilotDAR]

A 200 is a pretty good airplane, got a few years time on it myself(like a good many on this site) and not a demanding aircraft as some other types can be, at least that is how I see it. It was a nice day there and no pax which would suggest the a/c was well below MTGW and autofeather. Be interesting to see what the NTSB determines. It was a single pilot operation so who knows..........

+1

[ehbuddy]

In the B200 if the engine fails and it autofeathers if you do not complete the shutdown checks and manually retard the prop control to FEATHER can it unfeather itself?

[Illya Kuryakin]

Happened pretty quick. It was suggested to me, that it could have been as simple as a loose tension Knut on the throttles, with a distraction close to the ground. Not much can bring one down that quick, except fuel starvation....and judging from the smoke, that's not very likely.
Thoughts with all involved.
Illya

[bizjets101]

Aircraft hit the Cessna Flight Safety Building with the Citation sims - all 3 fatal in the building where in the same sim - a trainer, foreign pilot, Russian Translator - also 1 FSI person is still in hospital in serious - and 4 others released - and sole pilot fatal.

The airplane was recently purchased by Beechcraft Corp. and arrived at Wichita on September 16 for a 'Phase 1-4 inspection' according to sale records. Both PT-6 engines had undergone a hot section inspection and a new propeller was installed on the right hand engine.

The airplane was cleared for takeoff on runway 01R. During takeoff the pilot radioed "we lost the left engine". After that the airplane impacted buildings located about 1775 feet (540 m) left of the runway 01R centreline.

[Illya Kuryakin]

He lost it while still on the ground? How long is the runway?
Illya

[bizjets101]

7,301 x 150 ft (2,225 x 46 m)

OurAirports KICT aerial view of KICT and pilot info

[Old fella]

Happened pretty quick. It was suggested to me, that it could have been as simple as a loose tension Knut on the throttles, with a distraction close to the ground. Not much can bring one down that quick, except fuel starvation....and judging from the smoke, that's not very likely.
Thoughts with all involved.
Illya

Indeed, certainly a possibility especially with nobody in the right seat(and by that I mean qualified) to confirm/ call out abnormalities and to confirm appropriate actions that may be required. The joys of S/P ops in these aircraft types, which I personally have a dim view of, but that is just my view point. I have never flown a BE-200 single pilot so probably not in a position to suggest anything.

Sad nevertheless..........

[lownslow]

The airplane was cleared for takeoff on runway 01R. During takeoff the pilot radioed "we lost the left engine". After that the airplane impacted buildings located about 1775 feet (540 m) left of the runway 01R centreline.

I can't think of any scenario ending in an accident where I would take the time to transmit this, or anything for that matter. If my airplane is careening off the runway my sole job is to get it back under control only. I'm just not smart enough to reliably do two things at once when I know one of them is really, really important. Am I missing something here?

[ditar]

Happened pretty quick. It was suggested to me, that it could have been as simple as a loose tension Knut on the throttles, with a distraction close to the ground. Not much can bring one down that quick, except fuel starvation....and judging from the smoke, that's not very likely.
Thoughts with all involved.
Illya

I could see that being possible. If a lever were to slide close to idle due to a loose tension knob, of course the autofeather will not activate, and with certain models of propeller, it could become quite a mess low to the ground.

I've trained in that building in the past as well. A very sad event.

[KAG]

It looks like a 4 bladed prop. If it doesn't auto feather you only have time to identify, verify and feather it before you roll over. beech rewrote the definition of vmc to the dead engine feathered in 4 bladed King airs. I assume it's like that in most turbo props with 4 blades.
I tried doing v1 cuts in the sim with auto feather failed. At blue line climbing out you roll over unless you get it feathered straight away.

[bizjets101]

The NTSB's preliminary report said witnesses on the ground estimated the plane was fewer than 150 feet above land when it began a left turn. Witnesses reported the plane had its landing gear down before it hit the Flight Safety International building at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport. The pilot and three people in the building died. Six others were injured, two of them seriously.

The left wing separated after hitting the building just below the roof line. The nose struck the roof and the plane slid for about 20 to 30 feet before the tail section came over the top, followed by a large explosion.

The NTSB said it had obtained surveillance video from surroundings buildings along with a cockpit voice recorder. The plane was also equipped with flight data units.

[grimey]

The NTSB's preliminary report

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief ... 4112&key=1

[Illya Kuryakin]

Don't quite get the usefulness of a CVR in a single pilot aircraft?
"shitshitfuckshitshitdamnhellshitshit...."
Anybody?
Illya

[Big Pistons Forever]

It has been reported, and I realize that it is early days and that facts reported may be wrong, but it has been reported
that the pilot made at least one radio call in the very short time from failure to loss of control.

Pilots: Don't drop the airplane to fly the microphone !

[bizjets101]

Interesting side note, the pilot had just retired as an Air Traffic Controller at KICT - seems odd he'd take the time to call ATC as ur banking left at 150 feet without an engine?

The 2009 King Air was on a delivery flight from Beechcraft to it's new owner in Texas.

[pdw]

I fear that Illya pegs it, if the weak-set tightner can let power slip back to rapidly-idle one of two "4 blades" from full power, so a sudden drag is like it's failed but un-feathered; and the radio call is made in the moments this glitch is not detected, in the few seconds available to correct it.