Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Chautauqua County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dunkirk, New York 14048
Thursday, May 17, 2007 9:37 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane experienced a left engine failure while en route to its destination and diverted to another airport. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and the airplane was observed exiting the clouds in level flight, about one-half to three-quarters beyond the approach end of the intended landing runway. The pilot attempted a missed approach and the airplane made a climbing left turn, and entered clouds. Shortly thereafter, the airplane was observed descending toward the ground in a flat spin. The airplane impacted in a wooded area about 1/2-mile south-southwest of the approach end of the runway. Examination of the left engine revealed the propeller was at or near the feathered position. An approximate 5.5-inch hole was observed in the crankcase, above the number 1 cylinder, which was attributed to the separation of the aft-top counterweight assembly. No other mechanical failures were observed. This was the airplane's first flight after an annual inspection. The engines had been operating for approximately 308 hours since they were disassembled and inspected after the airplane sustained a gear-up landing. At that time, the work performed on the left engine included the installation of new snap rings on the counterweight assemblies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during a single-engine missed approach, after the failure of the airplane's left engine aft-top counterweight assembly. Contributing to the accident were instrument meteorological conditions due to clouds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/17/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 937 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Dunkirk |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 14048 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422853N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0791702W |
| Event Location Airport | Chautauqua County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KDKK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 693 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 936 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 30 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DKK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 693 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23806 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 17 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2008 3:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Rochester FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | C-FDJP |
| NTSB Number | NYC07FA119 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Non-Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | BE-A55 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TC311 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4880 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 5206 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | 1419937 Ontario Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ontario |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Maxwell B. Hudson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Ontario |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | CA |
| 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 | CYOO |
| Departure City | Oshawa |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | CA |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KILG |
| Destination City | Wilmington |
| Destination State | DE |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 12 2008 11:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |