CRITICAL ENGINE FAILURE LIKLEY CAUSE OF NORTH CAROLINA BARON 58 CRASH

CRITICAL ENGINE FAILURE LIKLEY CAUSE OF NORTH CAROLINA BARON 58 CRASH

Sadly, another critical engine failure on the left was the likely cause of a Beech Baron 58 crash killing an accomplished Army reservist and successful businessman.

The airplane crashed on takeoff and photographs from the scene clearly reveal the aircraft in a hard left bank while in the climb.

Baron 58s do not crash under these circumstances absent an engine failure. The weather was good, the pilot was trained and the airplane is easy to fly with one very notable exception. The Model 58 like most light twins will suddenly roll out of control if there is an engine failure especially on the left.

The mode of loss of control is called a VMC roll. The left engine is the most critical because of the direction the propellers turn. The airplane wants to turn sideways into the failed engine and quick action must be taken to counteract the sideslip and maintain speed above VMC, the minimum control airspeed with the critical engine inoperative and the aircraft in takeoff configuration.

I have 700 hours in the Baron having owed one and flown others. The Achilles heel of the Baron is its Continental IO-520 engines, trouble prone and unreliable.

Investigators will have to carefully inspect the remains of the engines to determine why power was lost, a task made difficult due to the extent of the fire damage. It can be done and The Wolk Law Firm has accomplished this successfully over the years even after the NTSB with Continental’s “help” hasn’t been able to do so.

To the family of Capt. Raymond Ackley, our condolences and may his memory be a blessing.

Arthur Alan Wolk 2/18/22

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About Airlaw

For more than 50 years, The Wolk Law Firm has concentrated its practice in the area of aviation law, with Arthur personally generating verdicts and settlements of more than a billion dollars during the last decade alone. He is known for obtaining and on appeal, holding, the largest verdicts for each type of air accident claim in recent aviation history.

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