Beechcraft A60 N73CR

Summary

On 24 October 2002 at about 01:28 local time, a Beechcraft A60 registered N73CR, operated by J. P. R. Comeault, was involved in an accident near Jesup, Georgia, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 October 2002 at 01:28

Classification

Accident

Location

Jesup, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Jesup Wayne County (JES)

Coordinates

31.5525, -81.8786

Aircraft

Beechcraft A60

Registration

N73CR

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

J. P. R. Comeault

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Muncie → Melbourne

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ATL03FA009

2 people died.

The loss of power in one engine and the loss of control for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was equipped with two experimental Engine AIR Power Systems TSIVD-427, 500-horsepower, liquid-cooled, turbocharged, V8 engines. During previous flights, the right engine lost boost then overboosted intermittently, and attempted repairs were unsuccessful. The pilot elected to fly the airplane to its home base for further troubleshooting. During cruise flight, the pilot reported an engine was surging, declared an emergency, and received vectors toward the airport. The airplane collided into a field beside the airport runway and caught fire. The airplane had a total of 8 to 10 hours of flight time at the time of the accident. Records revealed that two days after the airplane's first test flight, the pilot flew the airplane from Melbourne, Florida, to an airport 336 nm miles away, then flew it to Canada to display it at a fly-in.The FAA operating limitations for the airplane restricted its operation to flight test only, which was proposed to consist of 100 flight hours, since the installation of the modified engines. No single-engine performance data was available for this airplane. Examination of the engines and accessories revealed extensive fire and impact damage. Continuity of the crankshaft, valves, rods, and pistons was established for the right engine by manually rotating the propeller reduction control unit.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.