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Nothing unusual in plane's service records
Wednesday, March 17, 1999 By Lawrence Walsh, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
The maintenance record of the twin-engine airplane that crashed in Dravosburg Monday appears to be routine for a 20-year-old aircraft.
According to data compiled by the Federal Aviation Administration, the only unusual incident involving the Beechcraft Duchess aircraft occurred June 5, 1995, when one of its tires struck a runway marker while it was taxiing for takeoff. A fogged windshield was blamed for the mishap.
With the exception of an alternator in the left engine that failed Oct. 25, 1994, the FAA's other service difficulty reports for the aircraft were based on routine inspections. An inspection June 27-28, 1994, found:
FAA spokesman Jim Peterson last night declined to characterize the reports, but Drew Steketee said they appeared to depict "normal wear and tear."
Steketee, who has flown a Beechcraft Duchess, is spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the world's largest aviation member organization with a membership of more than 345,000.
After the basics of the reports were read to him, Steketee said the relatively minor problems could be attributed to "an aging aircraft" that was 15 years old at the time.
There were no reports about any problems with the plane's fuel gauge. Steketee and other pilots said they use a mathematical formula to calculate fuel consumption because gauges can be inaccurate.
The plane is owned by John C. Bokenkamp of Peters, according to Landings, an Internet database of flying information.
It had a standard airworthiness certificate, was approved for normal operations and was inspected after every 100 hours of flight time.
Bokenkamp operates J.B. Express, a flying-related business, from his home. He rents or lends planes to companies such as Phoenix Aviation, the company that leased the plane Friday.
Bokenkamp was out of town and couldn't be reached for comment, according to a woman who answered the phone at the Bokenkamp residence yesterday.
Steketee said the Beechcraft Duchess, or BE 76, was designed for use by pilots new to multiengine planes, individuals and small companies.
"It is relatively economical to fly for a twin-engine plane, but more importantly, it is easier to handle." Steketee said the Duchess is unusual because it has both left- and right-hand doors that make it easier to exit in an emergency. He said the Duchess went out of production in the early 1980s when the airline industry "was shrinking pretty drastically."
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?Cracked aileron ribs, two on each side, that had been damaged by wind. The ailerons are movable flaps on the wings that are used to control rolling and banking.