Contributor - Safety

David Jack Kenny

<h2>Preliminary Reports</h2>
<h3>Few Initial Clues to Air Ambulance Destruction</h3>
Beechcraft King Air 300, Aug. 5, 2025, Chinle, Arizona
The NTSB’s preliminary report provided little obvious insight into the air ambulance’s crash on approach to Chinle Municipal Airport, which killed all four crew members. The aircraft departed on a positioning flight from the Albuquerque, New Mexico International Sunport (KABQ) at 11:55 local time, climbed to a cruising altitude of 18,000 feet, and initiated a descent at 12:29. Ten minutes later, it entered the airport traffic pattern on a downwind leg for Runway 36. In the last ADS-B data point, the airplane was about 600 feet agl on a 2.8-mile final approach.
A witness, a quarter mile from the airport, saw the King Air flying northbound about 180 feet over the runway. The left wing dipped erratically several times, then stabilized; then the airplane pitched up, the left wing dropped, and it crashed in “a knife-edge attitude” about 990 feet west of the runway, igniting a post-accident fire. The cockpit voice recorder was subsequently recovered and sent to the NTSB Vehicle Recorder Lab.
Prevailing weather at the nearest reporting station, some 37 nm away, showed clear skies, a temperature of 32 Celsius, an altimeter setting of 30.38 mm Hg, and westerly winds of 14 knots gusting to 28.
<h3>G-V Damaged by Uncommanded Gear Retraction</h3>
Gulfstream Aerospace G-V, Sept. 2, 2025, Portland, Oregon
The airplane’s forward pressure bulkhead sustained substantial damage when the nose gear retracted with the jet still on the ground at the Portland International Airport (KPDX). Two pilots and one passenger were on board for a Part 91 personal flight. After starting the number two engine, the pilot observed a low indication on the hydraulic oil pressure gauge and activated the power transfer unit (PTU). As soon as the PTU was engaged, the nose gear retracted, and the forward fuselage struck the ground. The flight crew performed an emergency engine shutdown, and all three occupants evacuated without injury through the rear baggage door.
<h2>Final Reports</h2>
<h3>Citation Descended Below Minimums Before CFIT</h3>
Cessna Citation II, July 8, 2023, Murrieta, California
The NTSB concluded that the pilot of a Cessna Citation II that crashed near French Valley Airport (F70) descended below the decision altitude without the required visual cues, causing a controlled flight into terrain accident that killed all six aboard.
French Valley Airport did not have a control tower, and although a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was on board, “the CVR did not contain data from the accident flight and none of the recovered audio was pertinent to the investigation.”
According to the report, the Citation had departed French Valley the previous evening and landed at Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport (KLAS) before departing on the return flight to F70 about six hours later.&nbsp;
Twenty-seven minutes into the flight, the pilot began a descent to French Valley as weather deteriorated. Within minutes, visibility decreased from 10 statute miles to a 300-foot overcast with three-quarters of a mile visibility, and then to one-half mile visibility in fog. At 3:44 a.m., the pilot requested IFR cancellation. The controller acknowledged and advised he had no weather information for F70. “The pilot responded and advised that he had the weather and landing information for F70,” the report states. About 3:51 a.m., approximately 25 miles north of F70, the pilot reported updated weather and requested an IFR pickup for the RNAV (GPS) Runway 18 approach.
The report noted that “a search of archived information indicated that the accident pilot did not request weather information from Leidos Flight Service. The pilot did have an account through Foreflight and filed a flight plan, but no weather imagery was viewed in Foreflight.”
Two instrument approaches to Runway 18 were attempted. During the first, the airplane leveled off near the decision altitude for several seconds before a missed approach was initiated. A Mode 4 “too-low gear” alert was triggered during the missed approach. Cleared for a second approach, the jet again descended below the required minimums. About 810 feet short of the runway threshold, the airplane struck terrain.
The final ADS-B return showed the aircraft flying at 128 knots groundspeed and about 100 feet agl. In the last three seconds of recorded data, its descent rate increased sharply to about 2,320 feet per minute. Investigators found no mechanical anomalies that would have prevented normal operation. The aircraft was configured gear down, flaps fully extended, and all major components were found at the accident site. Lighting systems at F70, including the runway PAPI, REILs, and pilot-controlled lighting, were found operational during post-accident inspection.
The NTSB cited the crew’s decision to descend without “the appropriate runway visual reference(s)” and below the minimum visibility required for the instrument approach as the probable cause. Contributing factors included crew fatigue during the circadian low window and reduced situational awareness.
<h2>Unexplained Engine Overheat Triggered Fatal In-flight Fire</h2>
Eurocopter EC135T1, Aug. 28, 2023, Pompano Beach, Florida
Runaway overheating of the No. 1 engine ignited a fire outside the engine compartment firewall, causing a partial separation of the tailboom that left the helicopter uncontrollable. One paramedic on board and a resident sleeping in the building were killed when the medical helicopter crashed onto the roof of an apartment complex, seriously injuring the second paramedic and causing minor injuries to the pilot. Investigators could not determine the cause of the excessive engine temperature.
Data recorded by the ship’s electronics showed that 67 seconds after departing for the scene of an automobile accident, the No. 1 engine control unit recorded a double N1 and double N2 failure. While this should have triggered a “FADEC FAIL” cockpit caution, the pilot did not recall seeing or hearing alerts. The ECU failure froze the fuel control unit at its flow rate of 123 l/h, preventing the throttle control from being moved to idle and reducing fuel flow.
Ninety seconds into the flight at an altitude of 300 to 400 feet agl, the pilot heard a bang and saw the turbine outlet temperature (TOT) of the number one engine rising. He moved the throttle to idle, declared an emergency, and reversed course to return to the Pompano Beach Airpark (KPMP). The No. 1 engine fire button illuminated, and the TOT continued to rise past its 895 °C limit to reach about 1,000 °C. A second bang was heard about 90 seconds after the first and the pilot lost control.
Witness video showed a fire in the vicinity of the No. 1 exhaust and the air conditioner condenser fans. Examination of the engine showed that five turbine blades had fractured in temperatures in excess of 1,295° C. Neither the composite material of the tailboom nor the fiberglass housing of the air conditioner was certified to withstand 1,000° C temperatures. The air conditioner had been installed under a supplemental type certificate 27 days and 16 flight hours earlier.
Plausible causes of the overheating included blockage of the engine air inlet or ingestion of foreign object debris, hot gases, or combustible fluids. Fire damage to the engine made it impossible to determine the exact cause.
<h2>Tail Rotor Destroyed by Mystery Object</h2>
Airbus Helicopters BK117 C-2 (EC145), Nov. 23, 2024, Montanel, France
During a confined area landing to conduct a medical evacuation, the helicopter’s tail rotor apparently struck a solid object, destroying both blades and shearing the bolts and rivets that had secured the first two segments of the tail rotor drive shaft. There was no damage to either of the vertical stabilizers or the tail guard. The manufacturer characterized the damage as “similar to that usually observed during accidents in which the tail rotor has struck hard objects such as a rock,” but no sign of impact was found on the stone wall or series of 1.8-meter (6-foot) stone pillars separating the landing site from a parking lot, and no vegetation marks were found on the fragments of the blades. The helicopter also sustained deformation of the landing skid cradle and tailboom, possible deformation of the airframe, and contact between the main rotor blades and upper cable cutter due to excessive downward flapping during the hard landing.
The helicopter was dispatched to the scene of a motor vehicle accident at Montanel. To avoid possible hazards on unpaved ground, the pilot chose to land on a road bordering a cemetery parking lot. After performing site reconnaissance at 500 feet, he approached the landing zone into the wind, descended into a low hover, and began a left pedal turn to position the craft for a slope landing. About 90 degrees into the turn, the aircraft suddenly spun right, and the pilot immediately lowered collective in response to the loss of yaw control. The helicopter touched down hard and skidded another 40 degrees before coming to rest. The pilot retarded both engines to idle and performed a normal shutdown.
In its report, the BEA observed that “No element observed…that could have formed a fixed obstacle showed damage that could be attributed to a strike by a tail rotor blade turning at a high speed (around 2,170 rpm,” leading them to conjecture that the “obstacle or hard object … may have been ejected.”
<h2>Quartering Tailwind Cited in Runway Excursion</h2>
Pilatus PC-12, May 17, 2025, Las Vegas, Nevada
The NTSB attributed the probable cause of a Pilatus PC-12 runway excursion at Las Vegas Henderson Executive Airport (KHND) to the “pilot’s failure to maintain directional control while landing with a quartering tailwind.” The 2006 turboprop single was being operated under Part 91 by public charter provider Boutique Air.
The accident occurred during a night landing on Runway 17R in visual meteorological conditions. The airport’s automated weather station reported winds from 240 degrees at 13 knots, gusting to 20 knots. The sole-occupant pilot later stated that “winds seem to have shifted with a quartering tailwind at some point.”
According to the report, the airplane veered right after touchdown as the pilot moved the power control lever into reverse. He applied left rudder, but the aircraft veered sharply right one to three seconds later. It departed the right side of the runway, traversed gravel between the runway and taxiway, and struck a storm trench, substantially damaging the right wing. ζ

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