Another Twin Crash on take-off

[DSCHAUT]

Just north of Denver, in Ft. Collins, a twin went down just after take-off a few days ago. As everybody knows, the most dangerous time to fly a twin is during take-off, when each engine is developing maximum torque. This time, it was apparently a Beech P-58 Baron. I used to fly the same type of plane.

This pilot and his two passengers died. They were flying to a cycling event in Iowa, and I imagine they had their bikes in the plane.

The local newspaper has already released some information about this particular Beech. It had a long history of mechanical and damage problems, including gear-up landing, nose-gear collapse, engine piston failure, and other problems.

High performance twin engine planes like the Beech 58-P are very, very expensive to operate. Most likely, this plane had not been maintained to a very high standard, as revealed in its history. Also, planes with damage history are usually sold below the market, and it is likely this one was sold much below market to its owner/pilot, because of its extensive damage history. That is, it was probably easy to get into as a purchase, because it was damaged goods.

When I bought my P-58 in 1992, I shopped around. I found one that was available for a very cheap price back in Danbury, CT. Because of the price and the fact that it was an estate sale--the owner had deceased--I bought a pre-purchase inspection at a Long Island Beech Center. Their verdict on this plane was that it was not airworthy, and needed a minimum of $50,000 in repairs to get it airworthy. They would not let it be flown back to its base without a ferry permit.

The lesson here is you get what you pay for, or what you pay to maintain. If you are considering the purchase of a high-performance airplane--especially a pressurized twin recip--be prepared to pay for the usual, published maintenance expenses. If you don't, anything can happen. Just hope it doesn't happen at take-off with passengers.