N67013Beech C23 · 1979

On March 4, 2021, about 1510 eastern standard time, a Beech C-23, N67013, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Purcellville, Virginia. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot was departing from runway 19 at Krens Farm Airport (14VA), Hillsboro, Virginia. A witness reported hearing the airplane take off and looked back to watch it depart. When she saw the airplane, it was “tilted to the left” as it descended into the trees. She heard the engine the entire time and stated that it made “traditional engine noises.” In addition, she noted that relative to the airplane’s takeoff direction, a tailwind prevailed at the time of the accident. The pilot’s son reported that his father always took off from runway 19 because of the slope of the runway.

The 1455 recorded weather observation at Leesburg Executive Airport (JYO), Leesburg, Virginia, located about 13 miles southeast of the accident location, included wind from 310° at 24 knots gusting to 29 knots.

Interpolation of the crosswind component chart revealed that there was about a 21-knot right crosswind and a tailwind component of 12 knots gusting to 14 knots at the time of the accident.

The airplane struck several trees beginning about 326 feet southeast of the departure end of runway 19 at an elevation of about 690 ft mean sea level. (see Figure 1.) From the area of the initial tree strikes, there was a debris field that was 306 ft long, oriented along a 128° magnetic heading. The main wreckage, comprised of the fuselage and right wing, came to rest in a heavily wooded area at the end of the debris field. There was no post impact fire and an odor of 100LL aviation fuel was noted at the site. All major components of the airplane were located in the vicinity of the main wreckage.

Figure 1 - Accident site diagram depicting runway (dashed white lines), the initial tree impact scars, the debris path, and the main wreckage of the airplane. Also annotated is the reported wind direction and velocity at JYO.

The left wing was impact-separated at the wing root and located about 40 ft prior to the main wreckage. The outboard approximate 5 ft leading edge of the left wing was impact-damaged and crushed aft. The rudder was impact separated from the vertical stabilizer and the vertical stabilizer was impact-separated from the empennage and located about 20 ft prior to the main wreckage. The leading edge of the vertical stabilizer exhibited impact damage. The horizontal stabilator remained attached to the empennage. The right wing was impact-separated and remained attached to the fuselage through cables. Flight control continuity was established to all flight control surfaces from the flight controls in the cockpit.

The engine was removed from the airframe for further examination. Crankshaft and valvetrain continuity were confirmed by rotating the propeller hub by hand. Thumb compression and suction were observed on all cylinders. The spark plugs were removed and examined. The Nos. 2 and 4 spark plugs were oil soaked. All other spark plugs were light gray in color and in new condition. Spark was observed on all towers of the left and right magneto when the input shaft was rotated. There were no anomalies noted with the engine that would have precluded normal operation prior to the accident.

The fixed-pitch propeller remained attached to the engine. Both propeller blades remained attached to the propeller hub. One blade was bent aft about 45° and exhibited leading edge gouging and chordwise scratching. The other propeller blade was bent slightly aft and exhibited chordwise scratching, leading edge gouging, and tip tearing.

The “Take-off Distance – Grass Surface” performance chart in the airplane’s pilot operating handbook was interpolated for the associated conditions of 11°C and 750 ft elevation. The estimated ground roll with a 0 knot wind component was 1,236 ft, and the distance to clear a 50 ft obstacle was 2,068 ft. The takeoff distance performance chart did not include a tailwind component multiplier penalty.