Beech 58 N60SH accident near Augusta, Georgia

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to land and stop the airplane within the available runway, which resulted in a runway overrun. Contributing to the outcome was the pilot's inadvertent feathering of both propellers during approach to landing.

NTSB analysis

At the conclusion of a positioning flight for maintenance, the pilot of the twin-engine airplane joined the airport traffic pattern at the destination airport. During the landing flare, the pilot began pulling back on what he thought were the throttle levers, but was instead the propeller control levers, which he pulled into the feather position. When the propellers started feathering, he thought that he had lost power on both engines. He landed the airplane "long" on the remaining runway. It subsequently traveled off the end of the runway, through the airport perimeter security fence, crossed a roadway, and came to rest. During the runway overrun, the airplane was substantially damaged.

After the accident, the pilot realized that he had been flying the twin-engine accident airplane like he typically flew his high performance single-engine airplane, and believed that was why he retarded the propeller control levers. Review of photographs provided by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector showed that unlike the pilot's high performance single-engine airplane, which had its throttle control located on the left side of the control console with the propeller control in the middle, the twin-engine accident airplane had its propeller control levers located on the left side of the control console and the throttle control levers in the middle. According to FAA Airworthiness records, the twin engine accident airplane was manufactured in 1980. Review of the twin-engine airplane manufacturer's technical information indicated that it was not until 1984 that the manufacturer changed the instrument panel layout and relocated the throttle, propeller, and mixture controls to industry-standard positions, similar to those in the pilot's high performance single-engine airplane.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA20CA112 for the full record.