NTSB Wants Spin-recovery Procedure Added to Twin Commander 690 Pilot Handbook

NTSB Wants Spin-recovery Procedure Added to Twin Commander POH

Some models of the 690 series include spin-recovery instructions

By Matt Thurber • Editor-in-Chief

January 29, 2024

As a result of its investigation of the fatal crash of a Rockwell 690B twin-turboprop on Sept. 28, 2021, the NTSB has issued a safety recommendation to Ontic, which owns the Twin Commander Aircraft product line, to add a spin-recovery procedure to the model 690 and 690 A/B pilot operating handbook (POH). The 690C/D models’ POH already has such a procedure.

The accident took place after departure from Wisconsin’s Rhinelander–Oneida County Airport. After leveling off at 16,100 feet and accelerating to 209 knots groundspeed, the 690B decelerated to about 93 knots groundspeed and descended 500 feet. According to the NTSB, “The airplane subsequently entered a rapid descent and a right turn. ‘Mayday, mayday, mayday’ and ‘we’re in a spin’ transmissions were broadcast to air traffic control. A witness, who was located about one mile from the accident site, observed the airplane in a nose-down attitude, descending at a high rate of speed, and spinning about its longitudinal axis.”

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