Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Beaumont, California 92223
Wednesday, July 2, 1997 19:50 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During takeoff, the pilot heard wind noise coming from the cabin door, but decided to continue the flight. After leveling off, however, the cabin door suddenly popped open. The pilot tried unsuccessfully to close the door, then failing that, tried to reduce his airspeed by retarding the throttles. Without looking, he inadvertently retarded the prop levers that were on the left side of the quadrant. Since the levers also served as feather switches when in the retarded position, both props went into full feather. The pilot attempted to bring both props out of feather, but because the aircraft was not equipped with unfeathering accumulators, he was unable. He finally restarted the left engine, but it did not immediately develop enough power to allow him to arrest his descent and maintain safe single engine airspeed. With only a few hundred feet of altitude remaining, he decided to make an emergency landing. The pilot reported that he regularly flew aircraft, which had throttles located on the left side of the quadrant. He also stated that he had not flown a 95-B55 in nearly 10 months, and then had only flown it 8 hours during the previous 12 months.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadvertent movement of the propeller controls, instead of the throttle levers, which resulted in an inadvertent dual engine shutdown. Factors relating to the accident were: the pilot's failure to properly secure the door during preflight, and his lack of recent experience in this make and model of airplane combined with habit interference.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/2/1997
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1950
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City BEAUMONT
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92223
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1958 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 245
Weather Observation Facility ID RIV
Elevation of weather observation facility 816
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 16
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1486
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 2 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2045
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:25PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2031W
NTSB Number LAX97LA230
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model 95-B55
Aircraft Series Identifier 95-B55
Aircraft Serial Number TC-2183
Certified Max Gross Weight 5100
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 16 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 3
Airframe Hours 1610
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DAVID COMPTON TALLICHET
Aircraft Owner Street Address 7000 MERRILL AVE, BOX 37
Aircraft Owner City CHINO
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91710
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code CNO
Departure City CHINO
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1930
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PSP
Destination City PALM SPRINGS
Destination State CA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --