Airplane Hit A Home In Pompano Beach, Three Seriously Injured

The NTSB has released its preliminary report from an April 25 accident in which a Beech 76 Duchess airplane on a multi-engine training flight went down shortly after takeoff from Pompano Beach Airpark (KPMP) in Pompano Beach, FL, impacting a house near the airport.

The certified flight instructor, the private pilot, and the pilot-rated passenger were seriously injured. The airplane was registered to N6709Y LLC and operated by Florida Aviation Academy, Pompano Beach, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions were reported at the airport at the time oft he accident and no flight plan was filed for the local flight that was being operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

No one on the ground was injured.

According to a representative of Florida Aviation Academy, the flight instructor was providing multi-engine training for two students enrolled in the flight school. The flight instructor was seated in the front right seat, the male student was seated in the front left seat, and the female student was seated in the rear of the airplane.

Several people witnessed the accident, including two air traffic controllers, who were working in the PMP air traffic control tower at the time of the accident. According to one controller, after he cleared the airplane for takeoff, he watched the airplane make a normal departure and right turn onto the crosswind leg of the traffic pattern. He said that when the airplane was about 400-500 ft above ground level (AGL), it made a sharp right turn followed by a sharp left turn and entered a steep nose down attitude toward the ground. The airplane then disappeared behind a tree line followed by an explosion. The controller did not hear the airplane but did recall that the airplane's landing gear was retracted. Another controller, who was working ground control, saw the airplane when it was on right cross wind. He could not recall the airplane's attitude at that time, but said it made a "hard left turn from a southerly heading to a northerly heading" with the nose pointed down toward the ground. The controller said that just before the airplane disappeared behind trees, it appeared to level out. He then saw fire and smoke.

An on-scene examination of the wreckage revealed the initial impact point was the roof of a single-level, private residence. Pieces of the airplane's left wing were found on the roof. When the wing impacted the roof, the fuel tank breached and a section of the home caught on fire. As the airplane continued to descend along the wreckage path, it collided with a wooden fence, several trees, and a concrete wall that was part of another home before coming to rest upright in the backyard of the home that was next door to the home that was initially struck. From the initial impact point to where the main wreckage came to rest was about 150 ft. A post-impact fire consumed the cockpit area, a majority of the fuselage, and portions of the left and right wings. The empennage and tail section were not fire-damaged, but did sustain impact damage. Both engines separated from the airplane and both propellers separated from their respective engine.

The airplane wreckage was recovered and retained for further examination.

The flight instructor held a commercial pilot certificate for airplane single and multi-engine land, and instrument airplane. He was also a certified flight instructor for airplane single and multi-engine land, and instrument airplane. The instructor's last first class Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) medical was issued on February 5, 2016. At that time, he reported a total of 1,000 flight hours.

The male student held a private pilot certificate for airplane single-engine land, instrument airplane. His last first class FAA medical was issued on November 16, 2015. A review of his logbook revealed he had a total of about 218.6 hours, of which, about 2.4 hours were in the accident airplane.

Weather reported at PMP at 1453, was wind from 090 degrees at 11 knots, visibility 10 miles, scattered clouds at 2,800 ft, temperature 26 degrees C, dewpoint 18 degrees C, and a barometric pressure setting of 30.00 in Hg.

(Source: NTSB. Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov