Bonanza down, Gulf Shores, AL 3-7-26

[Half Fast]

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/567713

Two dead. Looks like low ceiling and marginal visibility. From the report,

A Beechcraft A36 Bonanza, N66519, crashed into Bon Secour Bay while on approach to land on runway 9 at Gulf Shores International Airport/Jack Edwards Field (JKA/KJKA), Gulf Shores, Alabama. ​

The pilot and passenger perished and the aircraft was destroyed

The reported weather at 1755 LT, included winds from 110 at 8 knots, 8 miles visibility, an overcast ceiling at 500ft AGL, a temperature of 22°C, a dewpoint of 21°C, an 30.06 inches of mercury. The reported weather at 1955 LT, included winds from 110 at 8 knots, 2.5 miles visibility, an overcast ceiling at 200ft AGL, a temperature of 21°C, a dewpoint of 21°C, an 30.07 inches of mercury. The 1855 LT reading was not reported.​

 

[Bill]

Looks good, flew ~7min at 1500ft no variation, so I assume autopilot. Then the thing gets pointed downhill fast.

Wonder if the pilot disengaged the AP when there was excessive nose down trim, or if the AP kicked off due to excessive control forces.

Having that happen while still in IMC would certainly be startling. RIP )-:

Edit: Also looks like it cound have been a stall spin based on final heading changes.

 

[Flying Keys]

METAR KJKA 072355Z 11008KT 08SM OVC005` 22/21 A3006

METAR KJKA 080155Z 11008KT 2 1/2SM 2V4 BR OVC002 21/21 A3007

Accident occurred at around 0043Z.

The 0055 METAR at KJKA seems to be missing, but here’s one from KCQF, about 10nm to the NW:

METAR KCQF 080055Z AUTO 10008KT 10SM OVC009 22/20 A3007 RMK AO2

 

[Rick A]

The more normal airspeeds and rates of descent in the 1400' to 1900' fps range could indicate a stall/spin during the later stages. It wasn't the 10,000 fps descent rate we saw in Jenny's Debonaire fatal, or that Bonanza that recently experienced the in-flight breakup carrying around that same 10,000 fps vertical descent rate.

 

[Flying Keys]

Something looked a little off on that turn inbound. Here's the track with the RNAV Rwy 9 chart overlaid. This is the only approach to that runway (there's an RNAV and an ILS to runway 27). Since the aircraft never flew to an IAF, it's possible this was a vector to final. It looks like it overshot final quite a bit, then tried to correct before it lost control. The groundspeed as it approached final from the south was 167 knots.



One interesting note on the ADS-B Data. On the "base", the AP showed a selected altitude of 1600 and heading 04.9°. On the "45" to final, the heading was briefly changed to 118.1° right about the time it was crossing the final, then back to 059.8° (closer to the final stable ground track), where it remained throughout the rest of the sequence. The altitude selection never changed from 1600. There is no indication in the ADS-B data whether autopilot or any FD modality was in use.

 

[GBSoren]

We're staying in Orange Beach the month of March, flew into JKA on the 1st. Last night the fog set in along the beach at about 6 pm, it was right at the tops of the tallest condo's along the beach. I always hate to speculate, but this has happened to me....once, selected AP mode on the autopilot before I had turned inbound, overshot the approach path. In my case it was just embarressing, had to circle around and reshoot the approach.

 

[robin ardoin]

I suspect an overshoot of the FAC, high bank, inside rudder while holding back pressure on the control = stall/spin. He was coming in a little hot on that turn to intercept final. RIP

 

[Bill]

I suspect an overshoot of the FAC, high bank, inside rudder while holding back pressure on the control = stall/spin. He was coming in a little hot on that turn to intercept final. RIP

Maybe, but he must’ve really pulled! He’s doing 150 kn in that turn. I know you can stall it. Any speed but man he must’ve been pulling.

 

[Flying Keys]

Something that's not obvious from the zoomed-out views:



In the final sequence after turning right from that stable NE heading, the groundspeed fluctuates, rising from 152 knots to 166 during the descent from 1525' to 750', but it actually reverses the descent and climbs to 975' while the speed drops back to 146 on a SE heading, before entering a 17 second data gap (the straight line seen above). When it reappears, it is heading northbound at 168 knots at 700' , descending fairly rapidly and accelerating in a fairly straight line for about 3 seconds before it disappears a final time at 450' and 177 knots. I drew a dashed line to crudely approximate a path that it would take to reappear at that location.

This does not seem like a stall/spin, at least not a sustained one.

 

[robin ardoin]

Are you thinking SD entering the OC low layer?

 

[Flying Keys]

Are you thinking SD entering the OC low layer?

It's early - at this point I'm trying to eliminate possibilities. That is one that remains. Could also be tied to changes in autopilot modality. Consider what is going on in terms of configuration, attitude, and performance during an overshoot of final in IMC, over an absolute black hole, at night.