On May 16, 2016, a Beechcraft Bonanza A36TC, N60RW, departed from Tupelo Regional Airport in Tupelo, Mississippi, in route to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport in Virginia. Shortly after departure, the pilot stated that there was smoke in the cockpit and advised that the aircraft needed to return to the airport. Tragically, the plane was unable to make it back to the airport and crashed in a wooded area about a half-mile north of the Tupelo Regional Airport runway. The pilot and three passengers were killed in the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the accident. Witnesses on the ground saw something fall from the airplane as it took off. As the plane attempted to return to the airport, witnesses say fire and smoke was seen coming from the bottom left side of the airplane. The NTSB determined that an exhaust v-band clamp had failed and fallen off the plane during takeoff.
The FAA has issued multiple airworthiness directives and other recommendations due to a long history of problems with v-band couplings on other aircraft. After this accident, the FAA issued a proposed airworthiness directive regarding the v-band coupling on this particular airplane.
Slack Davis Sanger represented the estates of the pilot and the passengers, achieving a settlement for their tragic loss.