- Date
- August 2, 1989, 15:16 local (19:16 UTC)
- Place
- Albany, GA
- Injuries
- 6 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N11TPBeech 70
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 15, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890802026719A
- Case key
- 7908
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The fatigue failure of the supercharger intermediate drive gear shaft (gear tooth), which resulted in a partial loss of power, and the pilot's initiation of lift-off before reaching VMC airspeed. Factors related to the accident were: the worn intermediate drive gear shaft, the pilot's operation of the aircraft above its maximum certified gross weight limit, and the high density altitude.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
During takeoff, the acft rolled abruptly to the right after lift-off. Subsequently, the right wingtip struck the surface, then the acft cartwheeled & crashed. The fuselage was destroyed by a post-crash fire. An exam of the engs revealed that the right eng supercharger intermediate drive gear shaft had become worn & one of its gear teeth had failed from fatigue. There was evidence that an out-of-mesh condition occurred, which resulted in a partial loss of eng power during takeoff. Also, the acft was estimated to be 679 lbs over its max certified gross weight. Density alt was calculated to be about 2000 ft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N11TP
- Reported as
- Beech 70
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- LB-12
- Airframe hours
- 4,310
- Engine
- Lycoming IGSO-480-A1E6, 340 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- D.L. Porter Construction, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Rainbow Properties, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 30, 1989 · 10 hours before
- Destination
- CAK · Akron, OH
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ABY · Southwest Georgia Rgnl, runway 34, 5,200 × 150 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 43
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 5,000 total · 35 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ABY
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.