CAA ACCIDENT REPORT SUMMARY: BEECH B95 TRAVEL AIR
Date of accident: July 17 1997
Time of accident: 1200Z
Aircraft registration: ZS-ITP
Type of aircraft: Beech B95 Travel Air
Pilot-in-command licence type: PPL
Pilot-in-command flying experience: Total Flying Hours: 278
Hours on Type: 8.1
Last point of departure: Livingstone, Zambia
Next point of intended landing: Maun, Botswana
Location of the accident site: Maun, Botswana
Meteorological information: CAVOK
Number of people on board: 1+3
Number of people injured: 0
Number of people killed: 0
SYNOPSIS
The aircraft was on an international private flight from Livingstone (Zambia) to Maun (Botswana). On the downwind leg for runway 08 at Maun, the pilot selected the undercarriage down with all indications normal.
On touch down the left-hand gear collapsed causing the left hand flap and propeller to contact the ground. The pilot applied full power and executed a successful go-around. The landing gear was cycled again after which a loud report was heard as the gear locked into place. A slow fly past was executed in front of the tower and all indications were that the gear was in the down-and-locked position. The aircraft was then landed safely with no further incident. It was subsequently established that this was the seventh accident in which this particular aircraft had been involved in, of which four had been landing gear related.
PROBABLE CAUSE
It is possible that the landing gear system was not properly rigged which could have precluded the down-lock from being driven into the over-centre and locked position. This resulted in the left-hand gear collapsing on landing.
Jim’s analysis
My goodness - six previous incidents! Is there something about these Travel Airs that lets them keep flying again after they have been flown into the ground? Probably good solid Beechcraft construction.
Not sure I would like to be a passenger in a twin on an international flight with a 20-year-old, 200-and-something hour captain. That seems a bit close to the edge.
Still, he did nothing ‘wrong’. It was an extremely bad decision to do a go-around after hitting the prop and the flap on the ground – prop damage is often fatal. If a bit breaks off, the vibration will almost certainly pull the engine out of the airframe before you can throttle back. This is normally catastrophic as it puts the centre of gravity out of limits, causes massive drag and thoroughly confuses the airflow.
So even if it doesn’t seem too bad, you are playing with fire if you fly with a prop that has suffered even minor damage.
The pilot’s decision to do a go-around was probably based more on a gut reaction to take power, rather than reasoned thought. Having got it flying he then did everything right and the end result was a slightly damaged aeroplane and no injuries or deaths. In this case, if the pilot had stayed on the ground after the first landing there would have been much more damage, but that doesn’t mean he did the right thing.
In the end it turned out that his knee-jerk decision to do a go-around with a damaged aircraft was for the best. But this was pure good luck – the damaged prop could easily have killed them all. Also, the flap hitting the ground could have caused major structural damage or wing distortion. It could easily have resulted in an assymmetric flap condition that would roll them on their backs.
What can we learn?
• If there is airframe or prop damage, the ground is generally a more friendly environment than the air.
• If you find even minor prop damage on a pre-flight, take it very seriously.
• If you have a prop-strike you are living on borrowed time. Get on the ground and stay there.
Jim Davis has 15,000 hours of immensely varied flying experience,
including 10,000 hours civil and military flying instruction. He is an
established author, his current projects being an instructors’ manual
and a collection of Air Accident analyses, called Choose Not To Crash. Visit Jim's website by clicking here.
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