ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 222896
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| Date: | Tuesday 12 March 2019 |
| Time: | 15:16 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain |
| Owner/operator: | Marc, Inc. |
| Registration: | N400JM |
| MSN: | 31-8152002 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1981 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 19094 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming Engines LTIO-540-J2B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Hamilton County, Madeira, OH -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Survey |
| Departure airport: | Cincinnati Municipal Airport, OH (LUK/KLUK) |
| Cincinnati Municipal Airport, OH (LUK/KLUK) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The commercial pilot was conducting an aerial observation (surveying) flight in a piston engine-equipped multiengine airplane. Several hours into the flight, the pilot advised air traffic control (ATC) that the airplane had a fuel problem and that he needed to return to the departure airport. When the airplane was 8 miles from the airport, and after passing several other airports, the pilot informed ATC that he was unsure if the airplane could reach the airport. The final minutes of radar data depicted the airplane in a descent and tracking toward a golf fairway as the airplane's groundspeed decreased to a speed near the single engine minimum control airspeed.
According to witnesses, they heard an engine sputter before making two loud "back-fire" sounds. One witness reported that, after the engine sputtered, the airplane "was on its left side flying crooked." Additional witnesses reported that the airplane turned to the left before it "nose-dived" into a neighborhood, impacting a tree and private residence before coming to rest in the backyard of the residence. A witness approached the wreckage immediately after the accident and observed a small flame rising from the area of the left engine. Video recorded on the witness' mobile phone several minutes later showed the airplane engulfed in flames.
Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of either engine. The fuel systems feeding both engines were damaged by impact forces but the examined components generally displayed that only trace amounts of fuel remained; with the exception of the left engine nacelle fuel tank. Given the extent of the fire damage to this area of the wreckage, and the witness report that the post impact fire originated in this area, it is likely that this tank contained fuel. By design, this fuel in this tank was not able to supply fuel directly to either engine, but instead relied on an electric pump to transfer fuel into the left main fuel tank. Fire damage precluded a detailed postaccident examination or functional testing of the left nacelle fuel transfer pump. Other pilots who flew similar airplanes for the operator, along with a review of maintenance records for those airplanes, revealed at least three instances of these pumps failing in the months surrounding the accident. The other pilots also reported varying methods of utilizing fuel and monitoring fuel transfers of fuel from the nacelle fuel tanks, since there was no direct indication of the quantity of fuel available in the tank. These methods were not standardized between pilots within the company and relied on their monitoring the quantity of fuel in the main fuel tanks in order to ensure that the fuel transfer was occurring. Had the pilot not activated this pump, or had this pump failed during the flight, it would have rendered the fuel in the tank inaccessible.
Given this information it is likely that the fuel supply available to the airplane's left engine was exhausted, and that the engine subsequently lost power due to fuel starvation.
The accident pilot, along with another company pilot, identified fuel leaking from the airplane's left wing, about a week before the accident. Maintenance records showed no actions had been completed to the address the fuel leak. Due to damage sustained during the accident, the origin of the fuel leak could not be determined, nor could it be determined whether the fuel leak contributed to the fuel starvation and eventual inflight loss of power to the left engine.
Probable Cause: Fuel starvation to the left engine and the resulting loss of engine power to that engine, and a loss of airplane control due to the pilot's failure to maintain the minimum controllable airspeed.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=400JM
https://flightaware.com/photos/view/308507-a0c5e18460535d73fbee23230806d3ea6cdf266c/aircrafttype/PA31
Location
Media:
JUST IN: Video from the scene of the Madeira plane crash from a neighbor who called 911. pic.twitter.com/KUUFfT4Xj5
— Kristen Swilley (@KristenSwilley) 12 mars 2019
Chopper 9 flying over plane crash in Madeira off Shawnee run @WCPO @TanyaORourke @McKeeWCPO pic.twitter.com/9Jq1RBi7bU
— Steve Raleigh WCPO (@Cincywxman) March 12, 2019
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Mar-2019 21:13 | Geno | Added |
| 12-Mar-2019 22:00 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 12-Mar-2019 23:12 | Aerossurance | Updated [Embed code] |
| 12-Mar-2019 23:18 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 13-Mar-2019 02:13 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
| 13-Mar-2019 17:29 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Embed code] |
| 14-Mar-2019 14:07 | Captain Adam | Updated [Phase, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 01-Sep-2020 16:56 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Damage, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
| 01-Sep-2020 19:21 | harro | Updated [Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
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