The pilot advised a local air traffic controller that he was inbound on approach for landing to an airport in San Antonio, Texas. The controller instructed him to circle and then land on Runway 14, gave him the wind conditions, and told him that there was “rain on the airport.”
A witness reported observing the Beech 58P halfway down the runway and still airborne. The plane subsequently touched down, ran off the end of the runway, and went through a barrier fence before coming to a stop on a service road.
The left wing leading edge was crushed when it struck the fence post, and the nose landing gear collapsed.
The pilot reported the airplane’s brakes had failed. However, the brakes were subsequently tested and operated normally.
Examination of the runway revealed evidence of hydroplaning.
When informed by the local controller that it was raining at the airport, the pilot should have realized that hydroplaning was a possibility and ensured that the airplane touched down near the approach end of the runway to maximize the available landing distance.
The NTSB determined the probable cause as the pilot’s improper decision to land long (past the midpoint) on a wet runway and his failure to conduct a go-around when the airplane did not touch down at the approach end of the runway, which resulted in an overrun.
NTSB Identification: CEN15LA053
This November 2014 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Now that is what you call pilot error, but it”s easy to judge from an armchair.
Gut should never have been flying a baron if he isn’t any better than that, a baron will HP on very minimal water, raise the flaps immediately on TD, keep the nose up, alternate brake application left and right and she will settle right through the water.
Raising the flaps during landing in a retractable is risky – it has led in some cases to inadvertently raising the gear. It also may result in directional control problems with the pilot taking his eyes off of the runway at a crucial moment. What you say will work but I don’t think it’s a good option for the average pilot – maybe for someone who is very good at those techniques and out of other options. I’m sure with hindsight he regretted continuing the long approach.
In a retrac with single pilot crew I don’t think raising flaps on a retrac is ever a “good” option in an already difficult situation. I agree that water on the runway in heavy rain is a strong signal that a Missed Approach or Go Around would have been a better option. Setting up for an approach that maximized the runway (rather than landing long), landing elsewhere, or even loitering for 10 minutes might be hindsight options us armchair pilots might offer (and consider ourselves) for future landings when the runway is contaminated with lotsa water.
The situation is difficult only if the planning was deficient, a properly trained baron pilot, would have been prepared for a wet runway operation, briefing himself for speed, abort spot and immediate flap retraction