Pilot and 11 parachutists did not survive accident which occurred moments after take-off from Missouri airport.
Surveillance video shows that a Pacific Aerospace P-750XL skydiving aircraft, which crashed on take-off from Butler Memorial airport, had gradually started banking left until its wings were perpendicular to the ground.
The aircraft, with a pilot and 11 skydivers on board, crashed nose-down in a field about 445ft west of the southern part of the operator’s landing zone. None of the occupants survived.
US investigators probing the 14 June accident have found no evidence of sediment or debris in fuel samples.
All major structural components were identified at the accident site — although they had suffered substantial thermal damage from post-crash fire — and analysis of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 engine indicates it was producing power at the time of impact.
Investigators have carried out measurements of flap and trim actuator extension in a bid to determine the aircraft’s configuration, and have removed the aileron cables for further examination.
The National Transportation Safety Board, in preliminary findings, says the P-750XL operator had planned to carry out eight skydiving jump flights.
It states that the pilot wrote various wind speeds and directions on a whiteboard in the operator’s building for different loads, and completed a pre-flight check of the aircraft with no issues found.
Two parachuting flights, one with nine passengers and the other with 10, were conducted successfully.
The aircraft was refuelled, with 15USgal of Jet A in its left wing tank and 45USgal of Jet A in the right, before it departed with the pilot and 11 passengers at 11:25.
The surveillance video shows the aircraft took off about mid-field from Butler’s runway 36.
No track data or ADS-B information has been obtained from the flight, which was conducted in visual conditions.
While the aircraft was not required to carry flight recorders, various cameras were retrieved from the wreckage and are set to be analysed.
Post-accident review of a software tool shows the P-750XL complied with weight and balance limitations. It was configured with two pilot seats in the cockpit, and two benches for rearward-sitting parachutists.
“According to the operator, the pilot utilised a small personal clipboard to record load notes and fuel load calculations,” says the inquiry. “However, that clipboard was not identified in the wreckage.”
It states that the contractor pilot, who was working a second consecutive jump season for the operator, had accumulated over 4,100h total flight time. The inquiry says the operator described the pilot as “safety oriented” and “conservative” with decision-making.
The post Crashed skydive P-750XL reached perpendicular bank during initial climb first appeared on FlightGlobal.