Pilot Debrief

RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT COMPANY BE-400A near Sugar Land, TX — 2009-07-31

Final reportCEN09IA481
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Date
2009-07-31
Location
Sugar Land, TX, USA
Airport
SGR
Aircraft
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT COMPANY BE-400A
Registration
N679SJ
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Takeoff roll

Probable cause

The failure of the spinner following an unavoidable bird strike. Contributing to the incident were the inadequate engine bird strike certification requirements in place at the time the engine was certified.

NTSB narrative

The airplane was on departure roll approaching 95 knots when one large and two smaller birds were observed flying across the plane’s flight path from left to right. The pilots were unable to react before at least one of the birds struck the airplane. The pilot stated that the right engine immediately lost all power and the crew subsequently rejected the takeoff. Postflight examination of the airplane revealed that all but one of the right engine’s fan blades were fractured and the inlet duct had separated from the front of the engine and was hanging by a bleed air duct. Bird remains from a 1 ½- to 2-pound juvenile yellow-crowned night heron were found on the runway and in the right engine. Examination of the engine revealed that the engine spinner had separated from the engine due to the bird strike and entered the engine, resulting in the liberation of the fan blades and subsequent failure of the engine. The engine was certified to ingest a four-pound goose. However, the certification requirements in place at the time did not require the spinner to be tested during the certification process. The certification requirements were later updated to require testing of the spinner.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Engine power loss
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted takeoff upon seeing birds crossing the flight path.

NTSB coding

  • Birdstrike · Takeoff

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 10 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents10

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