ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 208707
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| Date: | Sunday 26 February 1995 |
| Time: | 14:10 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain |
| Owner/operator: | unknown |
| Registration: | VH-XMC |
| MSN: | 31-7852055 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1978 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | 26 km W of Forrest, WA -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | YFRT |
| YPKG | |
| Investigating agency: | BASI |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The aircraft departed Whyalla for Kalgoorlie, tracking via Olympic Dam to embark passengers, then Forrest to refuel. Later whilst en route, between Olympic Dam and Forrest, the pilot became aware of power fluctuations originating from the right engine which he attributed to a faulty density controller. At Forrest, the aircraft was refuelled to its maximum capacity. Following takeoff, the pilot noticed that the right engine manifold pressure and RPM were performing less than that of the left engine, and it also failed to obtain correct manifold pressure indications from 4000 feet above moderate sea level and higher. As the aircraft climbed to 5000 feet above moderate sea level, approximately 55km west of Forrest, a passenger attracted the pilot's attention to the right engine, believing it was on fire. The pilot noticed smoke coming from the engine and immediately diverted back towards Forrest. He set the right mixture control to "idle cut-off", then sent the aircraft into a dive to increase airspeed. After descending about 2000 feet, the right propeller control was selected to the feather position, but the propeller failed to feather and continued to rotate. The pilot then made several more unsuccessful attempts to feather the propeller, but without having increased power to the left engine, the airspeed declined. The aircraft continued to descend to about 100 feet above ground level, but with the windmilling right propeller, and now using maximum power on the left engine, the pilot was unable to prevent the airspeed from further decreasing below the best single engine rate of climb speed while attempting to maintain level flight. About 26km from Forrest, the pilot realised that the aircraft would not maintain height any longer and elected to conduct a forced landing. The aircraft touched down on an uneven, rocky surface. During the landing roll, the landing gear collapsed and the aircraft slid for a further 20 metres. All occupants were able to vacate the aircraft uninjured.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1995/aair/199500538/
https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/4932645/199500538.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 03-Apr-2018 13:51 | Pineapple | Added |
| 29-Oct-2019 17:13 | Uli Elch | Updated [Aircraft type, Location] |
| 29-Oct-2019 17:14 | Uli Elch | Updated [Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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