FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

GAA18CA109 · Beech B60

16 Jan 2018 · Scottsdale, AZ, United States

2190089 Ontario Beech B60 · Accident: loss of control on ground during landing

From Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) to Scottsdale Airport (SDL)

Report a problem

Event

NTSB case
GAA18CA109
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
CFESG
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ), Albuquerque, NMTo Scottsdale Airport (SDL), Scottsdale, AZ
Aircraft age
About 36 years (built 1982)
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
Landing
Defining eventThe 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 control on ground
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

  • Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
  • Aircraft › Aircraft systems
  • Personnel issues › Task performance

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, during the approach, he flew the airplane about 10 knots faster than normal due to other traffic's wake turbulence. He added that, while decelerating during the landing roll, the airplane veered to the left. He applied right rudder but to no avail. The airplane veered off the runway to the left, struck a taxiway sign, and the nose landing gear collapsed.

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the pressure vessel.

During postaccident examination, the pilot observed that the left tire had blown out. The tire exhibited a flat, bald spot about the width of the tire. The tire fabric threads were visible around a hole in the tire, consistent with a skid.

In a followup conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator- in-charge (IIC), the pilot reported that, during the approach, he verified brake hydraulic pressure. He added that he checked that his heels were on the floor and that he was the sole manipulator of the controls during landing.

The airport Operations Manager reported that, during the recovery process, there were no observed fluids around the main landing gear. He added that the airport surveillance video captured the landing sequence, which showed that there was "quite a bit of smoke" from the left tire during touchdown.

The airplane's logbooks indicated that the most recent maintenance work was done a month before the accident. The mechanic who worked on the airplane reported that the pilot requested work on the oleo struts but not to the brake system. He added that, during the oleo strut maintenance, the brakes were unbolted and set aside until reassembly. After the oleo strut work was completed, the mechanic ran up the airplane, taxied around, and tested the brake with no observed abnormalities.

An NTSB IIC and Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the wreckage and the NTSB IIC reported that the left brake rotor was normal in color and had minimal wear; the right main landing gear was unremarkable. He added that the brake pedals were actuated, and pressure was heard at both main landing gear brake assemblies. The brake pedal foot pressure was also unremarkable.

Probable cause

The pilot’s improper brake application during landing, which resulted in a tire blowout and a loss of directional control.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record GAA18CA109
Event ID
20180116X95600
Case number
GAA18CA109
Dataset
full-current
Source SHA-256
5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
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. 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: a53be2a7da5f8d11c1c23ef397ac08122af40d11f3aa51c7447c8b4a28c7b163; retrieved 2026-09-16T06:19:18.418Z.