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King air 350 flight crew reported they took off without fastening both engine cowlings; which; shortly after takeoff; separated from the aircraft.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1328316 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201601 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Super King Air 350 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Climb |
| Route In Use | Direct |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Cowling |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 142 Flight Crew Total 7930 Flight Crew Type 2230 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying First Officer |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 90 Flight Crew Total 1365 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
Immediately after takeoff I heard a thump and felt yaw. My copilot looked out the window and saw that the right engine cowling had come open. I looked out mine and saw that the left cowling had also come open and departed the aircraft. I maintained configuration with the gear down and made an immediate left pattern to return for landing. We informed tower that we needed to immediately return to the airfield and we were cleared to land on either runway. I was encountering controllability difficulties in the yaw axis so I maintained speed slow enough to control the airplane and to not exacerbate the structural damage.with the accelerated pace of the short pattern coupled with the immediate landing clearance issued by tower and no other traffic in the area; I did not declare an emergency (in retrospect I probably should have).after an uneventful landing I taxied to maintenance and informed tower that they needed to do a FOD check since we had dropped objects on the runway. After shutdown; I discovered that both engine cowlings had departed the aircraft with one lodging itself on the left horizontal stabilizer.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: King Air 350 flight crew reported they took off without fastening both engine cowlings; which; shortly after takeoff; separated from the aircraft.
Narrative: Immediately after takeoff I heard a thump and felt yaw. My copilot looked out the window and saw that the right engine cowling had come open. I looked out mine and saw that the left cowling had also come open and departed the aircraft. I maintained configuration with the gear down and made an immediate left pattern to return for landing. We informed tower that we needed to immediately return to the airfield and we were cleared to land on either runway. I was encountering controllability difficulties in the yaw axis so I maintained speed slow enough to control the airplane and to not exacerbate the structural damage.With the accelerated pace of the short pattern coupled with the immediate landing clearance issued by tower and no other traffic in the area; I did not declare an emergency (in retrospect I probably should have).After an uneventful landing I taxied to maintenance and informed tower that they needed to do a FOD check since we had dropped objects on the runway. After shutdown; I discovered that both engine cowlings had departed the aircraft with one lodging itself on the left horizontal stabilizer.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.