Beechcraft 95-B55 | N55FD

The DTSB determines the Probable Cause of this accident to be Pilot Error, in that the accident pilot did top off his aircraft, and made a takeoff from runway 28, whereupon he encountered a left engine abnormal after liftoff. The accident pilot elected to turn left while trying to climb, but never feathered the faulty left engine. Due to high gross weight, high density altitude, and the drag of the windmilling left engine, the aircraft could neither climb nor sustain level flight. The flight simply sunk into the tops of the trees while cross controlled and on the verge of a full aerodynamic stall. During taxi out, the aircraft held short of the runway for a prolonged amount of time, possibly indicating a problem that presented itself while on the ground. The left engine was found in perfect condition, but not feathered, indicating that it was not producing power as it impacted trees.
The accident flight path is indicative of the beginning of a Vmc roll where the aircraft impacted nearly vertical from about 100 AGL. The accident pilot had retracted the gear but never feathered the faulty left engine. Numerous witnesses at the scene reported a bad sounding engine as it flew over. One witness observed the entire crash sequence and did give a quality description of the path and indicated that the aircraft was not trailing any fire or smoke before impact.

The DTSB recommends that all pilots of all multi-engine rehearse and condition themselves to be fully ready for the loss of thrust from either engine, and be prepared to retract the landing gear, identify, verify, and feather the inoperative engine, all within 8 seconds of elapsed time. It is imperative that the flight path remain a constant heading, and that no turns are made until reaching 1000 AGL, and that turns then initiated be in the appropriate direction in order to never turn into a dead engine.