Taylorville Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Taylorville, Illinois 62568
Saturday, August 11, 2012 11:24 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane had climbed to an altitude of about 11,000 feet mean sea level (msl) with 12 parachutists seated inside the airplane on two rear-facing “straddle benches.” The airplane was flying at an indicated speed of 100 mph with the flaps retracted. The operator’s written guidance for “skydiving jump runs” indicated that the airspeed should be maintained at 110 to 120 mph and that the flaps should be set at 30 degrees. As the airplane arrived at the planned drop location, the parachutists stood up, opened the door, and moved farther aft in the airplane to prepare for their jump. Five of the parachutists were positioned aft of the straddle benches and were hanging onto the outside of the airplane, several of the other parachutists were standing in the door, and the remainder of the parachutists were standing in the cabin forward of the door. According to instructions on the operator's skydiver briefing card, no more than four jumpers should be allowed to occupy the door area during exit. Several parachutists heard the sounds of the airplane’s stall warning system, and the airplane then suddenly rolled and began to descend. All 12 parachutists quickly exited the airplane. Several witnesses reported seeing the airplane turning and descending in an inverted nose-down attitude and then appear to briefly recover, but it then entered a nearly vertical dive, which is consistent with a loss of control event as a result of an aerodynamic stall and subsequent entry into a spin. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidance indicates that the pilot-in-command (PIC) must know the weight and location of jumpers during each phase of the flight to assure that the aircraft stays within center of gravity (CG) limits and that the PIC must remain aware of CG shifts and their effects on aircraft controllability and stability as jumpers move into position for exiting the aircraft. Further FAA guidance indicated that, if a stall recovery is not promptly initiated, the airplane is more likely to enter an inadvertent spin, which can degenerate into a spiral. It is likely that the number of parachutists near the door area during exit shifted the CG aft and contributed to the aerodynamic stall/spin. The pilot suffered a serious traumatic brain injury in September 2005 as a result of colliding with a truck while bicycling; however, he did not report that injury during all subsequent FAA medical certificate applications. Persons with an injury of this severity will likely have long-term issues with cognition, attention, executive functioning, sleep disturbance, and impulsivity. However, without the results of any postinjury neuropsychological testing, the status of the pilot’s cognition and decision-making during the accident flight could not be determined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed and use the appropriate flaps setting during sport-parachuting operations, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall/spin and a subsequent loss of control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to follow company guidance by allowing more than four passengers in the door area during exit, which shifted the airplane’s center of gravity aft.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/11/2012
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1124
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Taylorville
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 62568
Event Date Year 2012
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 393223N
Event Location Longitude 0891808W
Event Location Airport Taylorville Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID TAZ
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 622
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1115 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 240
Weather Observation Facility ID KTAZ
Elevation of weather observation facility 622
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 330
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.03
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report KTAZ 111615Z AUTO 33009KT 10SM CLR 24/09 A3003=
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 12
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 32831
NTSB Notification Source FAA AGL Regl Opns Center - CHI
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 12 2014 6:36PM
User who most recently changed record latt
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N697Q
NTSB Number CEN12FA534
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
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 G18 - S
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number BA-468
Certified Max Gross Weight 9700
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 2
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats 12
Total number of seats on the aircraft 14
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 5 2012 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 13833
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Barron Aviation LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 30530 Highway Y Y
Aircraft Owner City Perry
Aircraft Owner State MO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 63462-2715
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Barron Aviation Private Flight Services, LLC
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 6079 C.R. 425
Operator City Hannibal
Operator State MO
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 63401
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) Skydiving
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code TAZ
Departure City Taylorville
Departure State IL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code TAZ
Destination City Taylorville
Destination State IL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 11 2014 3:51PM
User who most recently changed record latt
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --