NTSB FTW83LA055 — 1982-12-06 · LOVINGTON, New Mexico, United States

Current FAA registration · N18HM

Make / Model: BEECH 58
Year of manufacture: 1975 · 7 years old at event
Engine: CONT MOTOR IO 520 SERIES (285 hp)
Seats / Engines: 6 seats · 2 engines
Last airworthiness date: 19750618
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A13F0E

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N18HM Beech 58 None

Factual narrative

THE PILOT REPORTED THAT WHILE TAKING OFF WITH A LIGHT CROSSWIND, THE RIGHT PASSENGER DOOR OPENED. WHILE TRYING TO CATCH PAPERS AND HOLD THE DOOR, THE RIGHT PROPELLER STRUCK THE RUNWAY AND THE RIGHT MAIN GEAR BEGAN COLLAPSING. BY THIS TIME, THE PILOT DECIDED THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT RUNWAY REMAINING TO ABORT, SO HE CONTINUED THE TAKEOFF. AN EMERGENCY LANDING WAS MADE ON THE SAME RUNWAY BY SETTING THE PLANE DOWN ON THE LEFT MAIN AND NOSE GEAR. AS THE SPEED REDUCED, THE RIGHT WING SETTLED AND A PROPELLER BLADE SEPARATED AND PENETRATED THE FUSELAGE. NO DISCREPANCY WAS REPORTED CONCERNING THE DOOR LATCH. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1982_FTW83LA055.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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