Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Amarillo, Texas 79111
Sunday, March 24, 2002 19:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that while in level cruise flight at 140 knots indicated airspeed, at an altitude of 5,500 feet mean sea level (msl), the airplane encountered "clear air turbulence." The pilot stated that at the time of the accident, the airplane autopilot system was engaged, and his hands were not on the cockpit controls. During the accident, the airplane "was suddenly thrust nose high and vertical." The pilot then "pushed the nose [of the airplane] over," and recovered control of the airplane from the unusual attitude. The pilot continued the flight to his intended destination and landed without incident. Examination of the airplane revealed that the aft fuselage exhibited extensive skin wrinkling and tearing between the fuselage station (FS) 233.5 and FS 256.9 bulkheads. The left fuselage side exhibited a compression wrinkle extending from the bottom of the FS 256.9 bulkhead diagonally up and forward toward the top of the FS 233.5 bulkhead. The right fuselage side exhibited a compression wrinkle extending from the top of the FS 256.9 bulkhead diagonally down and forward toward the bottom of the FS 233.5 bulkhead. The bottom skin exhibited a compression wrinkle that extended from the middle of the FS 256.9 bulkhead forward and outward toward FS 233.5 bulkhead. The right ruddervator was 20.98 inch-pounds static underbalanced. According to the manufacturer, the static underbalance weight range is 16.8 to 19.8 inch pounds.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Flutter due to the improper balance of the ruddervator, which resulted in structural damage to the aft fuselage.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/24/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Amarillo |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79111 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 351309N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1014221W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1853 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AMA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3605 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 22 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 27 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.77 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13339 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communications Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 23 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1310 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 13 2003 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lubbock, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4257B |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA129 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | F35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-4234 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 24 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 418.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 5515.3 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ron McMurray Family Limited Partnership |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2041 S. Wheeler St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Jasper |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75951 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Ronnie A. McMurray |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | CVN |
| Departure City | Clovis |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1830 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BGD |
| Destination City | Borger |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 20 2003 5:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |