Beechcraft 90 King Air

The private pilot was accompanied by his wife and his two daughters on a flight from Port Elizabeth to his farm in the Cradock district. On arrival at Cradock, the pilot apparently over-flew the runway for inspection and was on the downwind leg when the aircraft started to roll and yaw to the left. All engine indications were normal and the pilot had to decrease power on the right-hand engine in order to maintain control of the aircraft. With the reduction in power of the right-hand engine, the pilot was unable to maintain height and executed a forced landing on an open field. The aircraft was extensively damaged during the forced landing but no injuries were sustained. An on-site investigation was carried out on 24 December 2000 after which the aircraft was recovered to Lanseria aerodrome for further inspection. On inspection of the Left-hand propeller it was noted that the carbon block of the low pitch proximity sensor, which normally runs inside the Low-Pitch stop collar, was bent down at an angle, which would have rendered the secondary Low-Pitch stop inoperative. Due to the fact that the aircraft sustained damage to it's electronic circuitry it was not possible to verify the proper operation of the propeller pitch control system.

On 25 June 2004, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau released its final investigation report into an accident which occurred on 27 November 2001 at Toowoomba aerodrome, Qld, involving a Beech Aircraft Corporation King Air C90 aircraft, registered VH-LQH, which experienced an engine failure shortly after takeoff. The aircraft was destroyed and all four occupants sustained fatal injuries.

The commercial pilot flew the airplane on a cross-country flight of at least 2 hours and 47 minutes before dropping of his passengers, and flew back for 2 hours and 7 minutes without refueling. The pilot reported that as the airplane turned onto final approach, the right engine began to surge. He reduced the power on the right engine and increased power on the left, but the airplane started to roll right so he elected to reduce the power on the left engine and land in an alley. Prior to impacting wires, the pilot retracted the landing gear and brought the condition levers to "cut-off." A witness observed the airplane prior to impact and noted that the "motor wasn't on." The airplane impacted power lines, a tree, a natural gas meter, two residences, and a fence. The fuel tanks were compromised during the impact sequence, and the fire department sprayed the area with fire retardant foam. A test of the water runoff revealed "negative results for petroleum risk." Examination of both engines' fuel lines between their respective firewalls and fuel heaters, and fuel pumps and fuel control units revealed that they were void of fuel.

En route from New Delhi to Kanpur, the crew reported over Aligarh. Short of next reporting point Kadas, the aircraft was about 10 miles right of track for which the permission was obtained and the pilot requested for a direct routing to Kanpur. About 10 minutes later, at an altitude of 14,000 feet, while cruising in bad weather conditions, the twin engine aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent, partially disintegrated in the air and eventually crashed in an open field near Mainpuri. All eight occupants were killed.

The Venezuelan registered Beech King Air C90 departed Caracas, Venezuela's Óscar Machado Zuloaga International Airport at 1516 eastern daylight time with a pilot and two passengers aboard, and flew to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Florida. The route of flight filed with air traffic control was: after departure, direct to Maiquetia, thence Amber Route-315 to Bimini, thence Bahama Route 57V to Fort Lauderdale. The {planned} flight level was 220, and the pilot stated that 7 hours 15 minutes of fuel was aboard. Immigration/customs general declaration papers found aboard the wreckage stated the flight's intended destination was Nassau, and the pilot's daughter stated he always stopped at Nassau for fuel on many previous trips. After 6 hours 6 minutes, the aircraft crashed into a highway abutment about 1,700 feet short of his intended landing runway at Fort Lauderdale with total accountable onboard fuel of 3 to 4 gallons. One passenger received fatal injuries, one passenger received serious injuries, and the pilot received serious injuries. Engine factory service center disassembly examination revealed that the engines and their components exhibited no evidence of any condition that would have precluded normal operation, precrash. No precrash abnormalities with the propellers, their respective components, or any other aircraft system component were noted. Type certification data sheets for the C90 state that the unusable fuel aboard is 24 lbs., (3.6 gallons of Jet-A fuel).

After about a 20 minute flight, while on final approach for landing, the airplane experienced a loss of engine power on both engines, and the pilot-in-command (PIC) performed a forced landing into trees about 1/2 mile from the airport. The left and right boost pumps and the left and right transfer pumps, were observed in the "OFF" position. According to the PIC, after he exited the airplane, he returned to the cockpit and "shut off the fuel panel. The fuel quantity indicator toggle switch was observed in the "TOTAL" position. Examination of the fuel system revealed both engine nacelle tanks, both wing center section tanks, and the right wing fuel tanks were not compromised. About 1 quart of fuel was drained from the left and right engine nacelle tanks, respectively. Less than a quart of fuel was drained from the right wing tanks. The left wing tanks were compromised during the accident; however there was and no evidence of a fuel spill. Examination of the left and right wing center tanks revealed approximately 27 gallons (approximately 181 lbs) of fuel present in each tank. Battery power was connected to the airplane, and when the fuel transfer pump switches were turned to the "ON" position, fuel was observed being pumped from the left and right wing center tanks to their respective nacelle tanks. The accident flight was the third flight of the day for the flight crew and airplane. According to a flight log located in the cockpit, the flight crew indicated 750 lbs of fuel remained at the time of the takeoff. According to the airplane flight manual (AFM),"Fuel for each engine is supplied from a nacelle tank and four interconnected wing tanks...The outboard wing tanks supply the center section wing tank by gravity flow. The nacelle tank draws its fuel supply from the center section tank. Since the center section tank is lower than the other wing tanks and the nacelle tank, the fuel is transferred to the nacelle tank by the fuel transfer pump in the low spot of the center section tank...." Additionally, with the transfer pumps inoperative, all wing fuel except 28 gallons from each wing will transfer to the nacelle tank through gravity feed.