- Date
- November 10, 1989, 18:00 local (Nov 11, 1989, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Floydada, TX
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N17ATBeech 95
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed · report October 24, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891110044839A
- Case key
- 23074
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
Failure of the propeller attachment bolts due to fatigue in four of the bolts and overload in another. A contributing factor was the loss of electrical power and the deteriorated airplane control/preformance.
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
While the airplane was at cruise, the right propeller spinner fell off. Three or four minutes later, the right propeller came off and cut into the nose of the airplane. With no electrical power, and deteriorated airplane control, the pilot made a wheels-up landing on the destination airport. The right propeller and the center of the starter ring were not recovered. Five of the propeller attachment bolts remained in the engine crankshaft flange. Laboratory visual inspection indicated four of these bolts failed from fatigue and the fifth failed from overload.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N17AT
- Reported as
- Beech 95
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- TD107
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- B & H Aviation
- Registered owner
- Terry L. Fitzgerald
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 7, 1989
- Departed
- F67 · Grand Prairie, TX
- Destination
- Q41
- Airport
- Q41 · Floydada Municipal, runway 17, 3,700 × 50 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
- 31
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,120 total · 200 in this make and model · 995 as pilot in command · 345 in the last 90 days · 140 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 170° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N17AT · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.