- Date
- May 23, 1991, 17:24 local (21:24 UTC)
- Place
- Caribou, ME
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6968RBeech BE-23-B24R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 5, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910523021799A
- Case key
- 36930
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 failure of the engine driven fuel pump, which resulted in a total loss of engine power and subsequent forced landing on rough terrain. Factors related to the accident were the decision by the pilot to takeoff with known mechanical deficiencies; the pilot's hard landing during the forced landing; and the pilot's lack of experience in this make and model airplane.
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
The airplane was climbing through 6500 feet, when the engine quit. The pilot made a forced landing in a field, but did not flare the airplane properly and hit the ground very hard. The engine had caused some problems for the pilot before takeoff, but he determined it was operating satisfactorily, after several full power run ups. The FAA found the engine driven fuel pump was malfunctioning, resulting in fuel system cavitation and eventual fuel starvation. It was determined by the FAA and the manufacturer representatives that the auxiliary fuel boost pump might not be able to restore fuel pressure fast enough for the pilot to restart the engine while executing the forced landing. After several attempts, the pilot concentrated on the emergency landing. The pilot had a total flight time in this model of 3.5 hours.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6968R
- Reported as
- Beech BE-23-B24R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- MC-321
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B6, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Skyline Aviation Corp.
- Registered owner
- Andham Aerocorp Inc.
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- FVE · Frenchville, ME
- Destination
- PWM · Portland, ME
- Airport
- FVE · Frenchville
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
- 44
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 802 total · 4 in this make and model · 778 as pilot in command · 32 in the last 90 days · 19 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 22,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 82 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.