Misrigged elevator and tail-heavy condition spelled doom for 1900D | Aviation International News

Misrigged elevator and tail-heavy condition spelled doom for 1900D

When a noticeably tail-heavy Air Midwest Beech 1900D lifted off from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, N.C., on the morning of January 8, the twin t

By AIN Staff • AIN Staff

July 30, 2008

When a noticeably tail-heavy Air Midwest Beech 1900D lifted off from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, N.C., on the morning of January 8, the twin turboprop was carrying the heaviest payload of its seven previous flights since emerging from a D-6 maintenance check two nights before.

According to one pilot eyewitness, it smoothly increased pitch “like [at] an airshow,” until–at about 1,000 feet–it did a wing-over to the left and began descending nearly vertically. About halfway to the ground, he said, it rolled to the right and the nose lifted to almost level flight before it appeared to roll over again to the right and dive into the corner of a maintenance building at the airport.

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