NTSB Factual Report

On September 22, 2018, about 1515 eastern daylight time, a Beech V35 airplane, N435RB, was substantially damaged when it collided with trees on landing at the Georgetown County Airport (GGE), Georgetown, South Carolina. The flight instructor and the private pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by a DAH Aircraft LLC, Lewes, Delaware, and operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight that departed GGE at 1430.

According to the flight instructor, he was providing instruction to the pilot for a complex/high performance endorsement. They flew for about 30 minutes before they elected to return to the airport. The flight instructor had taken control of the airplane, so the pilot could get a drink of water. During that time, the airplane entered an uncommanded yaw and roll to the right and started to pitch up. The instructor confirmed with the pilot that he was not touching the controls, which he said he was not. The instructor was able to maintain some control of the airplane by applying left rudder, left aileron, and forward elevator pressure. He also trimmed the elevator nose down, which help relieve some of the right turning tendency. As he prepared to land on runway 11, the instructor noticed the yaw to the right increased as the airplane's speed decreased. As the airplane slowed down to 80 miles per hour (mph), it became "impossible" to hold the centerline of the runway and it began to drift to the right onto the grassy area adjacent to the runway. Once the airplane touched down, it immediately veered to the right about 90° and collided with trees, resulting in substantial damage to the firewall, fuselage and both wings.

The pilot provided a similar statement as the instructor but added that when he turned over the controls to the instructor and got a drink of water, he heard a "pop" and felt a "bump" in the airplane. The instructor then noticed a flight control problem and announced that he was keeping the controls. The pilot looked out the window and noticed the control surface of the right ruddervator was not moving.

The flight instructor held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single and multi-engine land, and instrument airplane. He also held a certified flight instructor with a rating for airplane single and multi-engine, and instrument airplane. His last Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) second-class medical was issued on February 15, 2017. At that time, he reported a total of 30,000 flight hours.

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. His last FAA third-class medical was issued on October 31, 2016.

The reported weather conditions at GGE, at 1435, included wind from 130° at 6 knots, visibility 10 miles and clear skies.

The airplane wreckage was retained for further investigation.