Beechcraft BE-G35 N4668D

Summary

On 9 February 2003 at about 20:00 local time, a Beechcraft BE-G35 registered N4668D was involved in an accident near Urbana, Illinois, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 February 2003 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Urbana, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Frasca Airfield (C16)

Coordinates

40.1004, -88.1998

Aircraft

Beechcraft BE-G35

Registration

N4668D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Urbana → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI03LA067

Nobody was injured.

The partial failure of the left stabilizer in overload.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left stabilator spar while performing a steep turn maneuver. The pilot stated his airspeed was about 120 miles per hour when entering the maneuver and he did not recall his airspeed increasing any more than five knots during the maneuver. The pilot indicated that as he was performing the left steep turn he began to lose altitude and increased elevator pressure to correct for the altitude loss. He reported that on recovery the control yoke began to vibrate and the rudder pedals began to "advance back and forth rapidly." The pilot stated he released the backpressure on the controls and landed without incident. Review of the airplane's logbooks showed that both ruddervators had been recently reskinned, painted, and balanced. An examination of the airplane revealed the ruddervator trim tabs had been installed upside down and that the trim tab wire had been threaded improperly. The ruddervators were balanced and the left ruddervator was determined to be 19.86 inch pounds underbalance, with the allowed underbalance moment range being 16.80 to 19.80 inch pounds. The on-site inspection revealed a crack in the left stabillator spar. The fracture initiated at the top of the spar that attaches to the bulkhead, migrated through the top outboard bolt hole, and progressed to the bottom outboard bolt hole.The metallurgical examination revealed that the fracture of the main spar of the left stabilator was representative of a tension overload along the full length of the fracture zone.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.