Contributor - Safety

David Jack Kenny

<h2>Preliminary Reports</h2>
<h3>King Air Destroyed in Uncontrolled Descent</h3>
Beech B200GT, March 22, 2026, Sharps, Louisiana
The solo pilot was killed when the twin--engine turboprop crashed into a swamp following an uncontrolled descent from FL280. The final ADS-B position fix showed the airplane banked 66 degrees to the right in a 46.1-degree nose-down attitude; its final descent rate ranged from 32,000 to 45,000 fpm. Excavation of the accident site's 15-foot-deep impact crater failed to recover either engine or any “portion of the cockpit, cockpit flight controls, or instrument panel.”
The flight from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (KFXE) in Florida to Dallas Executive Airport (KRBD) in Texas, proceeded uneventfully for nearly two and a half hours. After crossing the Alexandria, Louisiana VORTAC, the pilot asked the Houston Center controller if he could “leave your frequency for about 60 seconds.” He never checked back in, and less than 20 seconds later, the airplane began descending.
The King Air’s cockpit voice recorder was recovered and successfully downloaded. It captured sounds of “clicks and rustling” followed by the autopilot disconnect alert. Track data showed that the airplane entered an increasingly steep descending right turn two seconds later. The remainder of the recording included the sounds of excessive bank, altitude, and overspeed alerts and the landing gear warning horn, but no speech.
<h2>Final Reports</h2>
<h3>Crew Exceeded Crosswind Limits in HondaJet Runway Excursion</h3>
Honda HA-420 HondaJet, Jan. 28, 2024, Orlando, Florida
A HondaJet pilot’s failure to control the twinjet after landing with known wind gusts exceeding the airplane’s crosswind limitation resulted in a runway excursion and substantial damage, according to the NTSB final report. Contributing to the accident, the NTSB found, were the flight crew’s continued approach despite knowing that consistent wind gust crosswind components exceeded the published limitation, and an incorrect crosswind gust calculation made in flight.
The two pilots and two passengers were not injured when the airplane veered off the left side of Runway 36L at Orlando International Airport (KMCO), and the left wing struck a distance-remaining sign. The pilot steered the aircraft back onto the runway and stopped on a taxiway. Inspection revealed substantial damage to the left wing’s forward spar in the area that contacted the sign.
Nearly an hour and a half before landing, the crew reviewed the destination ATIS, which reported wind from 270 degrees at 14 knots gusting to 24. At 39 miles from the airport, the pilot flying checked the ASOS, which showed wind from 270 degrees at 13 to 14 knots. CVR recordings captured the crew discussing the crosswind component, aircraft operating limitations, company procedures, and the option of diverting to a better-aligned runway at Orlando Executive Airport (KORL). The pilot flying elected to continue to the planned destination. About 1.2 miles from the approach end of the runway, the tower advised wind from 290 degrees at 19 knots gusting to 24.
The NTSB noted that gust values at the destination consistently exceeded the airplane’s published crosswind limitation for the majority of the five-minute ASOS observations during the 1 hour 23 minutes before the accident, and that conditions should have prompted either an earlier diversion or a go-around on short final after the crew was informed of the gusts.
<h3>In-flight Break-up Attributed to Icing</h3>
Rockwell International 690A, May 5, 2024, Palmyra, Virginia
The NTSB concluded that structural icing led the airplane to break up at FL200. The pilot and only passenger were killed; the resulting debris field stretched more than three and a half miles. Examination of the wreckage suggested that the tail likely separated first, followed by the right wing; the horizontal and vertical stabilizers were found about three-quarters of a mile north of the main wreckage and showed no evidence of the fire that consumed much of the cockpit and left wing.
The aircraft departed Manassas Regional Airport (KHEF), Virginia, to Georgetown County Airport (KGGE), South Carolina, at 08:28 local time, establishing cruise flight at FL200. The pilot’s preflight weather briefing included an Airmet for moderate icing between the freezing level, estimated at 9,000 feet to 13,000 feet, and FL240 covering a portion of that route. Twenty-five minutes after departure, the airplane abruptly reversed course. The pilot responded to the controller’s query by saying, “We have lost…We need to climb,” and subsequently clarified, “We have lost autopilot.” Radar contact was lost shortly afterward, and a witness saw the airplane flying “on its left side and on fire in the middle of the airplane” before it struck trees directly across from his house.
The 63-year-old airline transport pilot’s most recent insurance application showed 3,801 hours of flight time, of which 2,860 hours were in turboprop aircraft.&nbsp;
The airplane was equipped with de-icing boots and a heated windscreen but was subject to an airworthiness directive prohibiting use of the autopilot during more severe icing, “as it could mask tactile cues indicative of adverse changes in the airplane’s handling characteristics.” Pilots were instructed to “immediately contact air traffic control and ask for a change in altitude to exit the icing conditions.”
<h3>Wind Shift Cited in Fatal Autorotation Accident</h3>
Airbus AS350B, May 2, 2025, 5.5 nm east of Whitehorse/Erik Nielsen International Airport, Yukon Territory, Canada
An undetected reversal of wind direction led the helicopter to drop to zero airspeed without losing groundspeed during an attempted power recovery from a practice autorotation, causing it to enter vortex ring state (VRS) when power was increased. Because the training flight took place over a dry lakebed on the floor of a mountain valley with little to indicate wind direction, neither of the highly experienced pilots on board was aware of the shift when it occurred.
The accident occurred about 5.5 nm east-southeast of the Whitehorse/Erik Nielsen International Airport (CYXY) during onboard training for the operator’s new chief pilot (“the candidate”) conducted by a Transport Canada-approved authorized check pilot (ACP) contracted for the flight. Following a series of maneuvers and emergency procedure reviews, the pilots conducted both straight-in and 180-degree autorotations to the south, into the prevailing winds. The fifth of the series was a straight-in autorotation entered from 1,500 feet above ground level at 100 knots. The rate of descent stabilized at 1,400 fpm after airspeed was reduced to 60 knots.
The candidate began the flare at about 100 feet with 65 knots airspeed, slowing the helicopter to 20 knots over the next 30 feet of descent. Airspeed then dropped to zero while groundspeed remained unchanged, and the rate of descent increased.
Recognizing the onset of vortex ring state, the ACP used forward cyclic in an attempt to recover, but the helicopter hit the ground, spreading the skids and striking the tail rotor, then bounced, spun, and rolled onto its left side. “At least one of the main rotor blades” penetrated the cabin and struck the candidate, causing fatal injuries. Responding to the emergency locator transmitter and a call on the ACP’s satellite phone, the first emergency responders reached the scene 25 minutes after the accident.
The candidate held an airline transport license for helicopters and a commercial airplane license, with about 9,800 hours of flight experience that included 1,900 hours in type. The ACP held a commercial license for both helicopters and airplanes and had logged some 13,000 hours in helicopters, including 7,000 hours in type. He was also reported to be experienced in mountain flying and familiar with the accident site. Following the accident, the operator changed policy to require all emergency training to “be conducted at an airport with suitable facilities to report or indicate wind direction and speed.”
<h3>Anonymous Tip Revealed Unreported Accident</h3>
Cessna 650, June 13, 2025, Westplains, Colorado
Three months after the event, an anonymous informant notified the FAA that damage to the twin-engine jet from an unreported accident was being repaired in the owner’s hangar at Airlake Airport (KLVN) in Lakeville, Minnesota. At the request of the NTSB, reports were eventually made on Form 6120.1 by both pilots and the airplane’s operator.
The flight from Harry Reid International Airport (KLAS) in Las Vegas, Nevada, to KLVN was under the command of a 58-year-old airline transport pilot and flight instructor. A 26-year-old commercial pilot and flight instructor in the right seat was given instruction en route. The pilot reported that near the Nebraska-Colorado border, he attempted to overfly an area of convective activity at FL410 and Mach 0.75 but encountered “heavy turbulence and hail,” causing damage, including a cracked outer windscreen on the pilot’s side. He responded by descending to FL350 and slowing to Mach 0.68, and continued to KLVN rather than making a precautionary landing.
Photographs of the airplane taken by the FAA show extensive damage to the radome, the leading edges of both wings, and the empennage, in addition to the shattered outer windscreen. The pilot in command reported 13,400 hours of flight experience and held nine different type ratings. The right-seat pilot reported 1,172 hours of experience and held single-, multiengine, and instrument ratings but was not type-rated in the CE650. The NTSB noted that the airplane was not approved for single--pilot operation.&nbsp;

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