In a normal day’s work as the technical representative for Twin Commander Aircraft, I often receive requests to clarify inspections or answer questions regarding maintenance and management for all models of Twin Commanders. But one assignment stands out over all of them.
Recently I was asked to identify, only from photos, a Twin Commander that had crashed in 1966. The aircraft flew into icing conditions in the mountains of Tennessee. The pilot’s grandson is writing a second book on his grandfather, an attorney who had clients with notorious scrapes with the law.
The first book covered his grandfather’s past clients and lifestyle in Chicago. The second book seeks to confirm the aircraft and the accident in Tennessee as his grandfather’s airplane. The grandfather was also being investigated for a crime and it was thought that he might have used the crash to fake his death.
There were stories from people that lived near the crash site that the aircraft was a Beechcraft and not a Commander. So, the author reached out to Twin Commander Aircraft and asked us to confirm the aircraft make and model.
I used newspaper pictures and government information, plus the grandson visited the site where the aircraft was found and dug up some parts that were still present. He was able to find the part number of one of the fuel bladders that matched what would have been installed on the Commander at the time with the manufacture name of the bladder. I used the pictures that showed the landing gear and vertical stabilizer as well as trim tabs and fairings and engine cowlings to identify the aircraft as a model 680. The mystery has been around for many years, but the question was finally answered.
The aircraft entered heavy icing conditions without deice boots on its way from Chicago to Florida. It was a clear case of poor decision-making on the pilot’s part, yet there are still people who believe the attorney is living out his life in South America.
