Accident Piper PA-44-180 Seminole N3040A,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 35788
 
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Date:Friday 9 October 1998
Time:16:30 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic PA44 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Piper PA-44-180 Seminole
Owner/operator:American Flight Center, Inc.
Registration: N3040A
MSN: 44-7995093
Total airframe hrs:5193 hours
Engine model:Lycoming O-360
Fatalities:Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:Howell, MI -   United States of America
Phase: Unknown
Nature:Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:Terre Haute, IN (KHUF)
Destination airport:(KOZW)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
A pilot at the accident airport said he heard '...a pilot announce: 'Livingston, downwind 31, engine out.' Also, witnesses reported the airplane executing a go-around while over the approach threshold of runway 31, and a flight instructor witness said he saw the twin-engine airplane flying over an airplane that was on its landing roll. He said the twin-engine airplane was about 100 feet above the airplane on its landing roll. He said the airplane was '...nose high and flying about 60 to 70 knots, it was wallowing and not gaining altitude or airspeed.... [It] drifted to the right of the runway, slightly right wing down and gained about 50 additional feet. The plane stalled, dropped the left wing and turned vertically down. The plane hit nearly straight down....' Other witnesses confirmed what the flight instructor said and added the airplane's left engine's propeller was stopped. The on-scene investigation revealed no anomalies with the airframe, flight control system, or engines and accessories. According to the pilot's logbook, he flew the accident airplane 1.5 hours on September 23, 1998. The logbook showed that the next most recent flight in the model of accident airplane was November 27, 1996. The pilot who flew with the accident pilot on September 23, 1998, said, 'I felt he did the airwork OK. He did the Vmc demo correctly but didn't carry it through to the point of losing yaw control. The airspeed was... about 60 when he said 'that's it' and recovered, I don't believe he had full rudder into the good engine.'

Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to maintain/exceed the Vmc airspeed during a go-around maneuver. Contributing factors were the shutting down of the left engine and the lack of recent experience in the type operation.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: CHI99FA003
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 2 years and 3 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB CHI99FA003

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
24-Oct-2008 10:30 ASN archive Added
21-Dec-2016 19:22 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency]
17-Nov-2022 16:03 Ron Averes Updated [Aircraft type]
04-Apr-2024 16:21 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, Accident report]

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