De Havilland DHC-6 TWIN OTTER N125PM

Summary

On 27 May 2001 at about 16:20 local time, a De Havilland DHC-6 TWIN OTTER registered N125PM, operated by Phillip Chappell, was involved in an accident near Fentress, Texas, United States. 23 people were on board. One person on the ground also died. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 May 2001 at 16:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Fentress, Texas, United States

Coordinates

29.7494, -97.7800

Aircraft

De Havilland DHC-6 TWIN OTTER

Registration

N125PM

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Phillip Chappell

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Skydiving

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fentress → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW01LA132

Injuries not recorded.

the King Air pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision in that he failed to remain in the agreed on formation position, resulting in one of his skydiver's contacting the propeller of the de Havilland airplane. A contributing factor was the lack of total experience of both pilots in multiengine formation air drop flights.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

A de Havilland DHC-6 and a Beech King Air 90 were to make a formation air drop of skydivers from 14,000 feet msl. The de Havilland was to be the lead aircraft with the King Air in trail. As the skydivers prepared to exit, the King Air was traveling faster than the de Havilland, and the pilot of the King Air had to pitch up and bank right to avoid the de Havilland. At that time, the pilot of the King Air lost sight of the de Havilland. A video tape taken by one of the skydivers showed that at the time the skydivers exited, the King Air was above, right, and ahead of the de Havilland. One of the King Air skydivers contacted the right propeller of the de Havilland. Other skydivers then saw this skydiver spinning out of control. One of these skydivers caught the injured skydiver and pulled the reserve handle; however, the reserve parachute did not fully inflate "due to being cut by the propeller." The injured skydiver fell to the ground. Both airplanes landed without further incident. The operator reported that this was the first formation air drop flight for either pilot in a multi-engine aircraft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.