N866JABritten-Norman BN-2A · 1970

On November 13, 2021, at 1349 eastern standard time, a Britten Norman BN-2A airplane, N866JA, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Beaver Island, Michigan. The pilot and three passengers were fatally injured, and one passenger received serious injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 air taxi flight.

The ADS-B data showed that the airplane departed Charlevoix Municipal Airport (CVX), Charlevoix, Michigan, at 1332. After departing CVX, the airplane turned north and proceeded directly toward Welke Airport (6Y8), Beaver Island, Michigan. The enroute portion of the flight was conducted about 1,500 ft above mean sea level (msl), and the airplane remained at this altitude until it was about 3 nautical miles (nm) from 6Y8. At this point, the airplane descended and maneuvered toward a straight-in approach to runway 35 at 6Y8. The ADS-B data ended about 0.24 nm south of the accident site.

The track data from a handheld GPS that was used in the airplane coincided with the ADS-B data but recorded additional data that ended at the accident site.

Figure 1: Overview of the accident flight. ADS-B flight track depicted in blue, GPS flight track depicted in red.

Figure 2: Plot of ADS-B and GPS flight track data for the final portion of the accident flight. ADS-B data depicted in blue. GPS data depicted in red.

The GPS recorded position, heading, altitude, and ground speed among other data. The airplane’s airspeed was calculated from the GPS groundspeed considering the recorded winds at the Beaver Island Airport (SJX), located about 2 nm southwest of the accident site. When the airplane was 1,200 ft from the runway threshold, the calculated airspeed was 58 knots, and when 600 ft from the threshold the airspeed was 54 knots. The final recorded data point coincided with the wreckage location and the recorded airspeed was 33 knots. Figure 3 depicts the plotted airspeed during the final portion of the accident flight.

The chief pilot for the operator witnessed the accident. He stated that he heard the pilot announce that he was at “Sand Bay”, a location that the operator’s pilots use as a reporting point about 5 minutes from the airport. He stated that he left his house, which is adjacent to the airport, to meet the airplane and he could see the airplane was flying very slowly, in a near stall position. He stated that it appeared to be flying nose-up with no power. He realized that the pilot only had a few seconds to lower the nose and add power before the airplane stalled. His first reaction was that the airplane was “wallowing” and no one was flying the airplane. He stated that the airplane did not recover from the nose-high attitude, then stalled and impacted the ground about 100 ft from the runway.

Figure 3. Airspeed during the final portion of the flight.

According to the operator’s report, the pilot had accumulated 2,949 hours of total flight experience with 136 hours in the accident airplane make and model.

The pilot was hired by the operator on March 20, 2021, and the operator's training records indicated that the pilot completed the company indoctrination, aircraft ground training, emergency training, crew resource management training, special subjects training, flight training, and differences training between March 21 and July 13, 2021. He passed the airman competency/proficiency check in accordance with 14 CFR Parts 135.293, 135.297, and 135.299 on July 21, 2021.

The pilot's flight duty summary indicated that his last duty day before the day of the accident was on November 1, 2021, 12 days before the accident. On that day the pilot was on duty for about 9.3 hours, logged 5.5 hours of flight time, and completed 17 landings.

The airplane impacted the ground about 110 ft east of the extended centerline of runway 35, and 320 ft south of the runway threshold. The turf runway was 3,500 ft long and had a displaced threshold just beyond its intersection with paved runway 9/27. Impact signatures indicated that the airplane struck the ground in a left-wing-low, nose-low attitude. The front of the fuselage was crushed upward and aft.

Figure 4. Overall view of the airplane wreckage at the accident site.

All major components of the airplane were located at the accident scene. Flight control continuity was established from the cockpit controls to each respective control surface except for cuts made by first responders for occupant extraction. Engine control continuity was established from the cockpit to each engine except for cuts made by first responders for occupant extraction. The wing flaps were found in an extended position.

Examination of the airframe, engines, and propellers did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunction or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

The airplane was a twin-engine, high-wing, strut-braced monoplane with a fixed tricycle landing gear arrangement. It was configured to accommodate 10 people, including the flight crew, with additional baggage capacity behind the passenger seats.

The airplane load manifest indicated that the airplane was operating at a weight of 5,903 lbs., and the center of gravity was at 25.3 inches aft of the datum, within the manufacturer’s prescribed weight and center of gravity limits. According to the operator, all passengers and baggage were weighed on a scale before flight.

According to the airplane flight manual, for a weight of 6,000 lbs. with flaps down, the stall speed was listed as 42 knots (48 mph).