AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2015 - 76

THE FLIGHT. On June 7, 2012, a
Pilatus PC-12 with pilot and five
passengers departed Fort Pierce,
Florida, at 12:05 p.m. Eastern time
en route to Junction City, Kansas.
The pilot and his family were
returning from a vacation in the
Bahamas. After clearing Customs
and refueling the aircraft for the
second leg, it looked like a routine
flight, with light to moderate icing
forecast at 26,000 feet (flight level
260) and some scattered convective activity. The PC-12 is approved
for flight in known icing; this flight
should have been well within its
capabilities.
Shortly after takeoff the pilot
contacted Miami Air Route Traffic
Control Center and was handed

the pilot expected or was encountering icing. The aircraft's engine
information system (EIS) recorded
a pressure altitude of 24,668 feet,
110 knots indicated airspeed (about
160 knots true; a reasonable climb
speed), and an outside air temperature of minus 11 degrees Celsius.
At 12:32 p.m., Center advised of
moderate to extreme precipitation
and suggested a north deviation.
The pilot agreed and the controller approved deviations right of
course, which the pilot acknowledged at 12:33 p.m. That was the
last external communication.
SPIRAL DIVE. Between 12:33:08
p.m., and 12:33:31 p.m., the aircraft's heading was approximately

angle increased to beyond 75
degrees and the airspeed reached
338 knots.
While passing 15,511 feet,
about 175 knots above maximum
maneuvering speed, according to
the NTSB report, "The pilot likely
applied either abrupt or full aft
elevator control input, resulting in
overstress fracture of both wings in
a positive direction. The separated
section of right wing impacted and
breached the fuselage, causing one
passenger to be ejected from the
airplane. Following the in-flight
break-up, the airplane descended
uncontrolled into an open field."
G forces were computed to be 4.6
at 12:34:08 p.m. There were no
survivors.

KEEPING IT STRAIGHT AND LEVEL

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off through various sectors. There
were several deviations around
thunderstorms-typical for an early
summer afternoon in Florida.
The flight continued northwest
and was cleared to FL260 at 12:30
p.m. According to the NTSB report,
"At 12:32:26, the aircraft's Central
Advisory and Warning System
[CAWS] recorded that the pusher
system went into ice mode."
The PC-12 is equipped with a
stick shaker and pusher to protect
the aircraft from approaching a
stall. In ice mode-initiated when
the pilot activates propeller heat
and opens the inertial separator-
the system activates sooner to
provide additional protection, in
case the airframe is contaminated
with ice. (The inertial separator
protects the engine from ice, functioning like an alternate air door on
piston aircraft.) These indicated
76 | AOPA PILOT June 2015

290 degrees, and it climbed from
FL250 to FL252, with an indicated airspeed of about 110 KIAS.
According to the NTSB report, "At
12:33:30 p.m., while at slightly less
than 25 degrees of right bank, 109
KIAS, 25,188 feet based on the data
downloaded from the CAWS, the
autopilot disconnected for undetermined reasons. In the next 10
seconds the bank angle increased
to 50 degrees...(and) the airplane
descended to FL249."
The autopilot computer continuously checks the system, and if a
failure occurs it will disengage and
advise the pilot via annunciator and
aural tone.
About 13 seconds after the
autopilot disconnected, and in a
descending right bank of about
50 degrees, the pilot began a test
of the autopilot system, which it
subsequently passed. The bank

THE PILOT. The 45-year-old pilot
held a private pilot certificate with
airplane single-engine land and
instrument airplane ratings. His
third class medical certificate was
current and total flight time was
computed to be about 755 hours
acquired over an 18-year period.
He obtained his instrument rating
in November 1997, but had limited instrument time. Time in the
PC-12 at the time of the accident
was about 38 hours, about half of
which was instruction.
Prior aircraft experience was
mostly in high-performance, complex single-engine piston aircraft,
including a Mooney M20J and a
Beech Bonanza B36TC. There was
a brief exposure of 7.5 hours dual in
a turboprop Piper Meridian.
The first flight in the accident
airplane was 4.1 hours to fly from
Junction City, Kansas, to Scottsdale,

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2015

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