Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 28; Flight Crew Total 11165; Flight Crew Type 3423
Training / Qualification; Troubleshooting; Workload; Time Pressure
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors; Manuals
Our aircraft had been out of use for 5-1/2 months for modifications and upgrading. Avionics were upgraded to Collins Proline 21 and the engines changed to Williams FJ44-3AP. We (the Flight Crew) received Part 135 approved differences training before taking over the airplane four weeks ago; however; no simulator was yet available for hands on training on the new equipment.Due to extended use of battery power the day before this flight we decided to use avionics for ATIS and preflight checks only after engine start. Time between start-up; clearance and our assigned departure slot was very short so the First Officer conducted the checklists silently for most items while I taxied to the runway for takeoff.The manufacturer provided short form checklist requires generator checks after engine start. In the short form checklist there is no reference pointing out that generators have to be reset to be brought back online following this check. Neither of us saw a warning light but we believe that both generators had been offline since that generator check.We were focused at another avionics problem when FMS 2 quit about one minute after takeoff while in the clouds. When FMS 1 quit a minute later we prepared to return to Zurich airport immediately. The aircraft was slightly out of trim and aileron trim no longer worked. This required the PIC to be focused on hand flying the airplane. All screens went black shortly thereafter; but FMD1 could be used in an emergency mode. With radar vectors we intercepted the ILS. With no flaps and landing gear having to be extended by the alternate gear extension procedure our landing speed was a little higher than required for the weight but that runway is very long and landing was uneventful. We left the runway and taxied towards the nearby FBO. Due to two aircraft blocking our access we had to stop on the taxiway and wait for 5-10 minutes. During that time we had time to analyze our electrical problem and were able to restore power by resetting the generators. Because of that delay; however; all Main Landing Gear tire fuse plugs blew so the aircraft had to be put on dollies to be towed to the FBO.Our next recurrent training will include the new cockpit equipment but there will still be no simulator which matches all aspects of the modifications. This will be available early in 2013 so we plan to book another sim training to be on the safe side.
Insufficient training in the recently highly modified BE-40 and rushed cockpit preflight and checklist procedures during a short taxi for takeoff resulted in the flight crew failing to reset both generators after performing a 'silent' checklist conducted solo by the First Officer. As a result; shortly after takeoff they suffered the loss of both FMS's and their associated NAV displays in IMC as battery power was drained.