NTSB Factual Report

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On August 13, 1999, about 1730 eastern standard time, a Beech B-58, N24DB, registered to Delta Fox, Inc., operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed while landing at Wakulla County Airport, Panacea, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The airplane received substantial damage, the airline transport-rated pilot suffered fatal injuries, and a passenger suffered minor injuries. The flight originated from Griffin, Georgia, about 1 hour 10 minutes before the accident.

According to the passenger, the owner/pilot's daughter, the trip actually originated from Atlanta's DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, where a pilot/mechanic from Gardner Aviation Specialist, Inc., of Griffin, Georgia, having completed installation of a Garmin GNS 430 GPS/NAV/COM system, together with an annual inspection, had returned the airplane to its owner. The owner/pilot flew back to Griffin to return the pilot/mechanic to his workplace, and at about 1620 departed Griffin for Wakulla. The passenger stated she was seated in the aft, left seat of the 6-place, club-seating configured airplane. The flight encountered some rain, and she saw dark clouds for the last 20 minutes of flight, including the vicinity of the airstrip. She stated the flight encountered turbulence for the last 10 minutes of flight. They flew overhead the airstrip and executed a descending, left circular pattern for landing. She stated, "The airplane was going fast during the approach. After touching down, [the pilot] said, 'Emma, we are not going to stop, so hold on.' I heard a big bang around the time that the plane contacted the chain link fence. The grass was wet when I got out of the plane after coming to a stop."

According to a pilot/airpark resident who landed on the same 2,280-foot sod runway about 20 minutes before the accident, he could see a thunderstorm fast approaching the airfield from the west. As he was performing a postflight check of his airplane, he stated that light rain began sprinkling the airstrip just before the accident, and the wind shifted from the south to the north. He observed the accident aircraft land downwind and touch down about half-way down runway 18. Although his view of the runway end was blocked by trees, he could hear the airplane collide with the chain-link fence and into a thicket of trees.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

Only the pilot's current logbook was recovered. Total flight times had been brought forward, but not PIC times. Additional information on the pilot is contained in this report on page 3, under First Pilot Information.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The airplane had undergone an annual inspection on July 28, 1999, at a Hobbs time of 295.0 hours. The Hobbs read 296.6 hours at the accident site. Gardner Aviation personnel stated that it was customary for the pilot's son, an FAA licensed mechanic, to perform routine maintenance on the airplane. The maintenance logs indicate that on March 9, 1999, at a Hobbs time of 240.7 hours, the engine oil, oil filters, a tire, a landing light, and the brake pads were replaced by the son.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

According to FAA Tallahassee ATCT personnel, there were some thunderstorm avoidance deviations occurring in the area southwest of Tallahassee when N24BD checked on frequency. Tallahassee Regional Airport, (TLH) is 29 miles north of the Wakulla County Airport and thunderstorms were west and south of TLH, moving southeast. An archive level II doppler weather radar tape from the TLH weather radar station for 1729 shows strong, (VIP level 3) weather echoes at Wakulla, and immediately west of Wakulla existed intense, (VIP level 5) weather echoes. A WSR-88D Algorithm Testing and Display System, (WATADS) wind velocity image shows winds at Wakulla at 1729 at the 1,900 feet level, (msl) to be from 008 degrees at 13.6 knots. Additional information is included in this report under, "Weather Reports and Records Pertinent to the Investigation."

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

Tire tracks of all three landing gears were visible in the grass runway surface the next morning. The point of touchdown was about 1,450 feet beyond the approach end of the runway. The length of the tracks from point of touchdown to the airport's perimeter chain link fence posts at the departure end of the runway was 1,580 feet. The airplane continued through the fence for another 20 feet, carrying the chain link fabric with it, impacted four oak trees of 8 to 12 inches in diameter within an oak thicket, and came to rest about 30 feet beyond the fence, having yawed right about 80 degrees from runway heading. Very little uprooting and tearing of the grass was evident within the tire tracks. Where the main gear tire tracks crossed bare, sandy spots, plowing of the sand revealed the brakes were locked during the skid through those areas. The four tree collisions occurred at the (1) right nose, (2) right wing root, (3) right outboard engine nacelle, and (4) 3 feet inboard from the right wing tip. The nose strut had collapsed rearward. The main landing gears and the flaps were found in the full down position. About 10 feet of fence structure/pipe was entwined in the left propeller. The right wing, outboard of the nacelle, was detached and the fuel cells were ruptured. The left wing revealed little damage except for a broken light lens and inboard flap impact damage. The left wing fuel cells contained 47 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel; however, the nose mounted cabin heater fuel line, fed by the left wing cells, was found leaking. The nose/right wing root damage was the most extensive and caused heavy inward and aft crushing of the nose baggage compartment, and displacement of the right side of the instrument panel about 27 inches aft and angled, top forward, about 20 degrees. The instrument panel displacement breached the pilot's occupiable space. The swing-over type flight control yoke was positioned to the left side and the "ram's horn" aileron control was rotated 120 degrees clockwise from wings level. The pilot's seat back was removed and the seatbelt was cut by EMT personnel to remove the pilot. The pilot's shoulder harness was stowed and according to EMT personnel, had not been used by the pilot for landing. Smearing of the pilot's left seat track adjustment hole/pin joint revealed evidence of rearward stress on the seat/occupant.

The wreckage was moved to a hangar where the engines were run to near maximum rpm with no engine or component irregularities noted. Engine controls showed no evidence of precrash malfunction, and functioned normally within their full range of travel. Brakes were fully operational. All airframe components and flight controls were present and showed no signs of precrash malfunction or failure. Flight control trim systems in all three axes were intact and operated normally.

MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION

Postmortem examination of the pilot was conducted by Dr. Lynn H. Dolson, M.D., Associate Medical Examiner, District 2, Tallahassee, Florida, on August 14, 1999. The cause of death was attributed to blunt force trauma due to an airplane crash. Toxicological tests were conducted at the Federal Aviation Administration Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and by the Office of the Medical Examiner, Tallahassee, Florida. Atenolol was detected in the blood and urine. The pilot's FAA Aviation Medical Examiner advised that the beta blocker type medication was being administered for a blood pressure condition, and would have had no adverse side effects, and the pilot's performance should not have been affected.

TESTS AND RESEARCH According to a transcript of a telephone conversation starting at 1524 between FAA Gainesville, (Florida) AFSS and a person represented as the pilot of N24DB, the pilot requested a weather brief for a route of flight between Columbus, Georgia, and south of Tallahassee, toward the Gulf of Mexico. According to the briefer's statement, "The pilot of N24DB called Gainesville AFSS from the Atlanta, Ga. area. I received the call at 1925Z. The pilot asked me to describe the thunderstorms along a route from Atlanta to 2JO. I informed him the severe thunderstorms of level 3-5 lay along that route. I informed him that convective sigmets [significant meteorological information-a weather advisory issued concerning weather significant to the safety of all aircraft] for the storms had been issued. I also informed him storm coverage would likely increase. He thanked me and hung up." The transcript is included in this report under, "Reports from Other Federal Agencies".

According to FAA Tallahassee Regional Airport personnel, the flight was not on a flight plan, and was being radar flight-followed in VFR conditions, initially by FAA Macon Approach Control radar, then FAA Jacksonville ARTCC radar, and ultimately, FAA Tallahassee Approach Control radar. When N24DB initially checked in with Tallahassee, at about 1700 and at 6,500 feet msl, the controller advised that thunderstorm cells appeared about four miles north of Wakulla, and N24DB answered that he would deviate west of course for avoidance. When the controller further advised that thunderstorm cells were now just about overhead Wakulla, N24DB responded that he was unable to see the airport, and reported numerous lightning flashes. At about 1722, N24DB was given a 128 degree heading, and advised the airport was about 5 miles ahead. At about 1724 the pilot radioed he had the airport in sight, whereupon the controller terminated his flight following and advised that the present Tallahassee winds were from 150 degrees at 5 knots.

The Beech-58 pilot's operating handbook performance section on calculating landing/stopping distances stipulates the following conditions; (1) paved runway, (2) level surface, (3) dry surface. Acknowledging these conditions were not present during the accident and for reference purposes only, use of the chart using the airplane's landing weight, atmospheric conditions, (except rain) existing at the time of the accident, and assuming a recommended approach speed, the ground roll for landing would have been about 1,800 feet. The factory does not flight test or publish runway performance figures for operations from sod or wet runways.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The wreckage, less the maintenance records listed on the NTSB Release of Aircraft Wreckage form, was released to Mr. Charles Blount, Airport Manager, Tallahassee Commercial Airport, on August 15, 1999. The maintenance records were returned to a representative of the estate by the FAA on February 16, 2000.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's excessive speed and extended touchdown point during landing resulting in an inability to stop the airplane within the length of the wet, grass runway, and the subsequent on-ground collision with the airport fence and trees.