Plane Crash Caused by Pilot's Poor Decisions and Lack of Aircraft Understanding – Episode 206

Flight Safety Detectives

The pilot of a Beech Bonanza F33A made an off-field landing when the engine lost power shortly after takeoff. John Goglia, Greg Feith and Todd Curtis dig into the information gathered by the NTSB and find this crash was caused by poor decisions made by the pilot.

Greg, Todd, and John analyze the information from the Public Docket of the crash investigation. They find that the pilot's lack of understanding about the aircraft and its systems contributed a series of decisions that led to the plane crash.

The pilot took off with the fuel pump on to deal with an overheating problem in two of the six cylinders of the engine. He did this despite a placard advising that the aux pump should not be on during takeoff.

In the Continental IO-520 engine in this plane, as in many piston engines, airflow cools the cylinders. Common and overlooked, baffles are critical for proper engine cooling. John details his experiences seeing damaged, cracked and improperly installed baffles on engines.

Greg contrasts the good decision the pilot made top not attempt a return the airport with the bad decisions he regularly encounters when pilots make the hazardous and often fatal decision to make an impossible turn back to the runway.

Related documents are available at the Flight Safety Detectives website.

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Music: “Inspirational Sports” license ASLC-22B89B29-052322DDB8

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