NTSB Factual Report

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On March 17, 2007, about 1410 central daylight time, a twin-engine Beech 58P airplane, N584DP, was destroyed following a hard landing at the McGehee Catfish Restaurant Airport (T40), near Marietta, Oklahoma. The commercial rated pilot sustained serious injuries and one passenger was fatally injured. The two remaining passengers received minor injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by Phillips Aviation Inc., of Dallas, Texas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The cross-country flight originated from the Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL), near Dallas, Texas, around 1340.

According to the pilot, after a check of the weather, they departed DAL en route to T40 to eat lunch at McGehee Catfish Restaurant. As they approached T40 he again checked the weather conditions and estimated the wind to be straight down runway 17 at 13 to 17 knots. Initially he over flew the airport several times to check the windsock and the runway for obstructions before deciding to land. Following the use of the before landing checklist he entered the traffic pattern for landing. While on final approach he observed that, "all was well with airspeed." The pilot stated that, "I finished off what I thought to be a good landing until after touchdown the right main gear seemed to be missing. The right wing started to dip and I tried to correct but the [propeller] caught the ground, then the right wing hit and then the aircraft burst into flames as we spun off the right side of the runway"

The passenger, who was seated in the front right seat during the accident, provided a written statement to the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC). The passenger reported that before takeoff the pilot demonstrated to the passengers how to get out of the airplane in case of an emergency and how to fasten and unfasten their seatbelts. Once they arrived over T40 the pilot had circled the airport several times and asked the passengers to make sure their seatbelts were secure and tight across their laps. He also observed the pilot going through a check list and saying, "props full, mixture rich, gear down and locked." While on final the pilot had stated "everything looks good." Additionally, the passenger stated that the landing was "pretty good." Moments later he observed the pilot "struggling to keep the airplane under control."

The passenger, who was seated in the aft left seat during the accident, was interviewed via telephone by the IIC. The passenger reported that prior to departure the pilot had called the restaurant to inquire as to if the airport was suitable for a twin-engine airplane. The passenger also reported that before departure the pilot checked the weather and had instructed him how to operate the airplane's rear door. When they arrived above T40 the pilot circled the airport before entering the airport's traffic pattern. While they circled, the passenger observed that the windsock was "fairly lined up with the runway" and that the pilot was using a checklist. The passenger stated that everything appeared fine with the airplane and engines until after they touched down to the runway.

The aft left seat passenger continued that shortly after touchdown he observed the right wing lower then he thought it should be. He also noticed grass being kicked up from the right propeller. The passenger also observed that the pilot was trying to keep the airplane straight on the runway. The right wing then came back up and moments later it appeared as if something on the right side "grabbed" and the airplane started to spin in a clockwise direction. The airplane continued to turn clockwise as it departed the right side of the runway and dropped over a large embankment. The airplane continued along the bottom of the embankment and turned approximately 270-degrees before coming to rest in an upright position.

According to individuals that responded to the accident site, the pilot and aft left seat passenger repeatedly reentered the burning airplane in an attempt to remove the remaining passenger to no avail.

An eyewitness, who was an airline transport pilot with approximately 600-flight hours in a Beech 58, provided a written statement to the IIC. The witness was located at the south end of the runway when he heard the accident airplane approach to land. According to the witness the airplane circled above the airport at an altitude about two to three thousand feet above ground level (agl), then descended to enter the traffic pattern. The witness recalled that following a left base turn to final approach, the airplane began a nose down descent after it crossed a tree line that was situated at the top of a hill north of the airport. The witness reported that the pilot's landing flare was "very shallow" and the descent rate did not slow even when the airplane pitched nose up above the runway. He reported seeing the airplane "hit hard" and that the landing gear initially held and then subsequently collapsed.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot, age 39, held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, multi-engine land, and instrument airplane. His last Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) second-class medical was issued on July 13, 2005, with no limitations. The pilot reported having accumulated 2,063 total flight hours, with 61 hours in the same make and model. His last flight review was on August 26, 2006.

AIRPLANE INFORMATION

The pressurized 1976-model Beech 58P, serial number TJ-76, was a low wing, semi-monocoque airplane, with a retractable landing gear, and was configured for six occupants. The airplane was powered by two, six-cylinder, horizontally opposed, fuel injected, turbo-charged, Teledyne Continental TSIO-520-WB engines rated at 325 horsepower. The left engine was identified by serial number 508725 and the right engine by serial number 508726. Each engine was driving a three-bladed constant speed Hartzell propeller.

According to the airframe and engine logbooks, the airplane's most recent annual inspection was completed on February 9, 2007, with an airframe total time of 2,348.9 hours. At the time of inspection both engines had accumulated 1,367.7 hours since overhaul.

The pilot reported that the airplane contained 165 gallons of 100 Low Lead aviation fuel at the time of their departure.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

At 1407, the weather observation facility at Gainesville Municipal Airport (GLE), near Gainesville, Texas, located 15 nautical miles south from the site of the accident, was reporting the wind from 190 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 17 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, sky overcast at 6,000 feet, temperature 64 degrees Fahrenheit, dew point 36 degrees Fahrenheit, and a barometric pressure setting of 30.16 inches of Mercury.

AIRPORT INFORMATION

McGehee Catfish Restaurant Airport was a non-towered airport operating under class G airspace. The field elevation was 760-feet mean sea level (msl). Runway 17 was a 2,450-foot-long by 55-foot-wide grass runway situated on rolling terrain. A road crossed the runway approximate 910-feet from the south end. Sections of the north, south, and west sides of the runway dropped off steeply into ravines. The area east of the runway consisted of rising terrain.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The first identified points of ground contact were two scars, consistent with the left and right main landing gear wheels, located before the runway threshold and on rising terrain. The left ground scar began 25-feet before the runway threshold markers and was approximately 1 inch in depth; gradually decreasing in depth over the next 26-feet. The right ground scar began 23-feet before the threshold and was approximately 3 inches in depth and about 7-feet in length. Both ground scars had displaced the grass, leaving only the dirt below. The next ground scar was around the area of the runway threshold. This ground scar was consistent with the airplanes nose landing gear wheel.

The main wreckage came to rest in a ravine on a heading of 88-degrees, approximately 782-feet from the approach end of runway 17 and about 43-feet west from the runway's center line. The main wreckage consisting of the fuselage, empennage, cabin, and both wings were largely consumed in the post crash fire. The airplane's right main landing gear, with the attached wheel, was located on the runway about 160-feet south of the runways threshold. All major components of the airplane were accounted for at the site.

The pilot did not report a problem with either engine or the airplane's flight controls. However, he did report that the right main landing gear collapsed on landing.

An examination of the right landing gear revealed that the upper structural truss member, which was manufactured straight, was deformed in a bow shape. The right landing gear actuator rod was also found deformed.

The examination of the airframe and engines revealed no evidence of pre impact mechanical failure/malfunction.

TESTS AND RESEARCH

Several pieces of the right main landing gear were submitted to the NTSB materials lab for examination. Submitted pieces included the bent upper structural truss member, the aft landing gear brace, and bent pivot bolts that were attached to sectioned pieces of adjacent structure.

According to lab personnel, all submitted fracture features were on slant planes, and the pieces were deformed adjacent to the fractures consistent with overstress fracture.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's improper landing flare. A contributing factor was the premature touchdown in an area of rising terrain.