CHI07CA248 · Beech B60
Beech B60 · Accident: loss of engine power during initial climb
From Bismarck Municipal Airport (BIS) to Detroit Lakes Airport (DTL)
Event
- NTSB case
- CHI07CA248
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Beech B60
- Aircraft type
- Beechcraft 60
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N529R
- Operator
- Henry L. Reichert · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Bismarck Municipal Airport (BIS), Bismark, NDTo Detroit Lakes Airport (DTL), Detroit Lakes, MN
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Initial climb
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of engine power
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- 2 engines
- Fbo personnel › Fuel supply, improper
- Fluid, fuel grade › Improper
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The airplane made a forced landing following a loss of power from both engines. The pilot reported that he had called the fixed base operator at the airport to have them pull his airplane out and to have 30 gallons of fuel added to each side. He stated that when he arrived at the airport, the fuel had already been added to the airplane. He stated that he performed a pre-flight examination of the airplane which included visual checks of the fuel which was blue in color, consistent with 100LL aviation gasoline. The pilot reported that the subsequent start-up, taxi and pre-takeoff checks were normal and he proceeded to takeoff. He stated that at about 32 inches of manifold pressure the left engine stumbled and he aborted the takeoff. After taxi back to the runway, the pilot performed another run-up and attempted another takeoff which again resulted in an aborted takeoff. The pilot stated that he then returned to the maintenance area where a mechanic boarded the airplane and a full power run-up was performed. No anomalies were noted during the full power run-up. After the mechanic deplaned, the pilot returned to the runway and was again cleared for takeoff. He stated that he entered the runway, held his brakes, and increased the power to 35 inches of manifold pressure. He stated that he checked the engine gauges and all were normal and he applied full power and proceeded to takeoff. After liftoff, the pilot noticed a fluctuation in the right engine's manifold pressure and he began a gradual left turn. He stated that the manifold pressure and fuel flow indications for both engines then began to fluctuate. The pilot's attempts to rectify the power fluctuations were unsuccessful and an eventual off-airport forced landing was made. The pilot reported that he had to maneuver the airplane to avoid trees, cars, houses and people during the forced landing. A fuel receipt from the fixed base operator revealed that the airplane had been fueled with aviation jet fuel.
Probable cause
The improper fuel grade due to the improper fueling of the airplane by the fixed base operator, which led to the loss of engine power of both engines. A factor was the unsuitable terrain encountered during the forced landing.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CHI07CA248
- Event ID
- 20070913X01391
- Case number
- CHI07CA248
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: a72e4618b958cde4ade3cad1323d76e9ce7112a9633b75b83b7d932a3f499a4b; retrieved 2026-09-22T03:34:43.272Z.