ATL07FA077

The accident pilot had recently returned from an airshow, and had shared with his pilot associates that he thought he could roll his personal airplane. He had previously attempted to roll the airplane, but a pilot-rated passenger stopped the accident pilot from completing the aerobatic roll. On the accident flight, a ground witness, who is also a pilot, heard the accident airplane, and thought it sounded like the pilot was doing aerobatic maneuvers. He heard the engine noise continue to increase, and saw the airplane descending very fast, in a 45 to 60 degree nose down attitude. The witness then saw a portion of the airplane break away prior to impact. Postaccident inspection of the airplane by the NTSB investigator-in-charge and the NTSB Materials Laboratory, disclosed evidence of pilot-induced overload failures of the tail and wings. The accident pilot's airplane was not designed or approved for aerobatic flight.

History of flight

On April 22, 2007, about 1451 eastern daylight time, a Beech BE-58, N5647C, registered to Renaissance Aircraft Management LLC, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, broke up in flight in the vicinity of Hamilton, Georgia. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed. The private pilot and 4 passengers were fatally injured. The flight originated from Jack Edwards Airport, Gulf Shores, Alabama, at about 1345 central daylight time.

A witness stated he was in his boat fishing in a lake in the vicinity of his home. He heard an airplane approaching his location from the southeast to the northwest. It sounded as if the pilot was performing some acrobatic maneuvers. The witness looked up and could not see the airplane. The engine noise continued to increase in intensity and the witness observed the airplane to the north of the lake heading northwest. The airplane was high and descending very fast in a 45 to 60 degree nose down attitude. The witness stated he observed a wing or part of the tail separate from the airplane in the vicinity of Hamilton Mulberry Grove Road. He immediately went to his boat dock and to his home and called the 911 emergency operators to report the accident.

A motorist approached a Georgia State Patrol Officer at the accident scene and informed the Officer that he was a friend of the deceased pilot. He further informed the officer that he was planning on purchasing an airplane from the pilot, and the pilot was going to use the money from the sale of the airplane to purchase the Beech 58 that he was flying at the time of the accident. The motorist further stated that the accident pilot's "flying skills were below his standards because the pilot was known for overstressing the planes he flew." The motorist, having flown with the accident pilot previously, also indicated that he made a statement to a friend about three weeks ago that the accident pilot would probably crash an airplane within the next year.

A friend of the pilot stated the pilot was in his shop on Friday, April 20, 2007, before he departed to Gulf Shores, Alabama on a fishing trip in his Beech 58. The friend informed the pilot, "That he thought he was stupid and not to do anything in the airplane that would get him hurt." The pilot stated, "I think I can roll this airplane." The friend stated, "The pilot had been at Sun N' Fun in Lakeland, Florida, during the week and had observed a performer rolling a Beech 18, and the deceased pilot just kept the rolling issue in his head." The friend stated the accident pilot had flown with a retired airline pilot who owns a Beech 55, and the retired airline pilot had rolled the airplane with the deceased pilot as a passenger.

Another friend of the deceased pilot stated he was in the right front seat of the airplane on April 19, 2007, on a return flight from Sun N' Fun in Lakeland, Florida, with two other passengers in the back seats. They departed Lakeland, Florida, and the pilot climbed to an initial cruising altitude of 9,500 feet. The autopilot was on and the airplane was cruising at 220 knots. The pilot climbed to 10,500 feet to see if they could get a better ground speed and eventually descended back down to 9,500 feet. A short time later, the pilot stated, "I want to try something." The pilot rolled the airplane to the left side, and then back to the right side with the autopilot off and stated, "I believe it's possible to roll this airplane."

The friend stated that the pilot pushed down on the control yoke, initiated a descent, and turned the airplane to the left, pulled back on the control yoke, and the airplane went up and over to the right like a spiral until the airplane was in a knife-edge attitude. The friend of the pilot stated he did not know what airspeed they obtained while the pilot was performing this maneuver and stated, "It got me out of my comfort zone, and I could not handle it." The friend stated he grabbed the flight controls, leveled the airplane, and stated to the pilot, "I can not do this." The pilot replied, "I believe it is possible to roll this airplane." The pilot then descended down to 7,500 feet and leveled off in cruise flight, and there was no further discussion about rolling the airplane. A short time later, the pilot pulled the power back on the right engine, feathered the propeller, and they continued towards Griffin, Georgia, in cruise flight. The pilot later started the engine, and they made their decent and landing at Griffin.

Personnel information

Review of information on file with the FAA Airman's Certification Division, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, revealed the pilot was issued a private pilot certificate March 29, 2007, with ratings for airplane single engine land, multiengine land, and instrument airplane. The pilot's last flight review was on March 29, 2007, when he received his private pilot airplane multiengine rating. The pilot held a third-class medical certificate issued on April 21, 2004, with no restrictions. The pilot indicated on his application for the third class-class medical certificate that he had accumulated 60 hours total flight time. Review of FAA Form 8710-1 Airman Certificate and or Rating Application for a multiengine check ride dated March 28, 2007, revealed the pilot has 1,113 total flight hours of which 20 hours are in multiengine airplanes. A friend of the pilot stated the pilot had his pilot logbook in the airplane. The logbook was not located at the crash site.

Aircraft information

Review of the airplane log books revealed the last annual and 100-hour inspection was conducted on June 12, 2006, at Hobbs time 1270.2 hours. The total time at the inspection was 9204.2 hours. Teledyne Continental Motors completed a factory rebuild on the left engine on November 15, 2002. The engine was zero timed on November 14, 2002. The total time since rebuild was 358.8 hours. Teledyne Continental Motors completed a factory rebuild on the right engine on January 16, 1998, and it was zero timed. The right engine was installed on the airplane on April 7, 1999, and has 916.8 hours since rebuild. The airframe total hours at the time of the accident was 9260.8 hours. The Hobbs time at the accident site was 1326.8 hours. A friend of the pilot stated the airplane was topped off with 100-low lead fuel on April 19, 2007, after he and the pilot returned from Lakeland, Florida.

Examination of the maintenance records for the airplane revealed that on October 20, 1995, at tachometer time 6496, Airline Training Center, Arizona, "Removed wing bolts due to manufactures recommendation. Installed new wing bolts, nuts, and washers coated with MIL-C-16173D corrosion preventive compound. In accordance with current Beech craft Service Manual W/O 6466." In addition another entry on October 20, 1996, revealed, "This aircraft had cracks in spar carry thru structure fwd and aft per attached sheet. Installed rear spar kit 50-4008-11S SN 411. Installed fwd spar kit 50-4008-9S S/N 428. Installation per drawing 50-4008. See 337 this date. W/O 6466." Airworthiness Directive (AD) 90-08-14, dated May 7, 1990, was issued to prevent cracks in the wing forward spar carry-through web structure. Review of the AD Compliance Record indicates the AD was completed on October 20, 1995. Examination of the airplane revealed the components required by the AD were installed.

Meteorological information

The nearest weather reporting facility at the time of the accident was Thomaston-Upson County Airport, Thomaston, Georgia, located about 16 miles south of the accident site. The 1540 surface weather observation was: winds 200 degrees at 5 knots, visibility 10 miles, clear, temperature 77 degrees Fahrenheit, dew point temperature 48 degrees Fahrenheit and altimeter 30.25.

A high-pressure system dominated across the southeast and resulted in an extensive area of clear skies and light winds over Alab