14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, November 01, 2013 in Caledonia, MN
Probable Cause Approval Date: 11/05/2014
Aircraft: PIPER PA 23-250, registration: N6068Y
Injuries: 3 Fatal,1 Serious.
NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The pilot, a pilot-rated passenger seated in the front right seat, and two additional passengers departed on a cross-country flight in a twin-engine airplane. As they neared an airport, about halfway to their final destination airport, the pilot was cleared by an air traffic controller to conduct an instrument approach to the airport; shortly afterward, the pilot cancelled the clearance. There was no further communication with the pilot. The airplane was found about 590 feet northeast of the runway by a resident who happened to notice the wreckage. Examination of the airframe and engines revealed residual fuel was at the site and in both engines' fuel system components. The landing gear and the flaps were in the retracted positions. The examination did not find any abnormalities with the airframe or engines that would have prevented normal operation. The surviving passenger, who had flown with the pilots on numerous occasions, stated that they would typically stop for a break about halfway to their destination airport, but he could not recall any of the accident details.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot's loss of control for reasons that could not be determined because the postaccident airplane examination did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On November 1, 2013 around 1515 central daylight time (CDT), a Piper Aztec, PA-23-250 airplane, N6068Y, impacted terrain near the Houston County Airport (KCHU), Caledonia, Minnesota. The private rated pilot, a pilot rated passenger, and one passenger were fatally injured; one passenger received serious injuries. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to Garlam Aviation, Troy, Michigan, and operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a cross-country flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules (IFR) plan was filed. The flight originated from the Oakland/Troy Airport (KVLL), Troy, Michigan, about 1100 CDT and was en route to KCHU.
There were no reported witnesses to the accident; however, a local resident discovered the airplane wreckage and alerted authorities.
The surviving passenger later reported that his first recollection was wakening up in the hospital. He stated that he could not remember any details surrounding the accident, nor did he recall any comments made to the first responders. In subsequent conversations with the passenger, he still could not recall any details of the accident; however, he did recall events prior to, and shortly after takeoff. He was the first one to arrive at airport, followed afterwards by the others. The pilots conducted a preflight, opened tanks, went under the wing to sample the fuel, and looked at the airplane. The pilot had sandwiches for everyone; he remembered the airplane taxiing out and the run up, and then flying along. He then remembered waking up in the hospital.
PILOT INFORMATION
The pilot held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single and multiengine land, and instrument-airplane. The pilot held a third class medical certificate that was issued on June 12, 2013, with the restriction, "must wear corrective lenses". At the time of the exam the pilot reported 400 total flight hours and 3 hours in last six months.
The pilot rated passenger held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single and multiengine land, and instrument-airplane. The pilot held a third class medical certificate that was issued June 15, 2012, with the restriction, "must wear lenses for distant, have glasses for near vision". At the time of the exam the pilot reported 2,150 total flight hours and 10 hours in the previous six months.
AIRCRAFT INFORMATION
The Piper PA-23-250, Aztec, is a twin-engine, low-wing airplane with retractable landing gear, and Hartzell 2-bladed, constant speed, full-feathering propellers. The airplane was powered by two Lycoming IO-540 reciprocating engines. A review of maintenance records revealed the airplane's last annual inspection was on March 12, 2013, with an aircraft time at 4, 768 hrs. The right engine tachometer time read 1,440 hours since overhaul and the left engine tachometer time read 1,108 hours since overhaul.
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION
At 1553, the automated weather observation facility located at the La Crosse Municipal Airport, (KLSE), La Crosse, Wisconsin located about 20 miles northeast of the accident site, reported wind from 320 degrees at 7 knots, visibility 10 miles, a broken ceiling at 3,700 feet, temperature 51 Fahrenheit (F), dew point 38 F, and a barometric pressure of 29.64 inches of mercury.
COMMUNICATIONS and RADAR INFORMATION
Prior to departure, the pilot contacted a Flight Service Station (FSS) and received a weather briefing for the route of flight. The pilot then filed an IFR flight plan from KVLL to KCHU, with an en route time of two and a half hours and five and a half hours of fuel on board. According to a review of air traffic control communications, prior to reaching KCHU, the pilot was cleared for the GPS-A approach; the pilot canceled his IFR clearance about 1405. There was no further communication with the pilot, nor any reported distress calls.
AIRPORT INFORMATION
Houston County Airport (KCHU) is a public use airport, located about 3 miles south of Caledonia, Minnesota. The airport is unattended and does not have a control tower; pilots are to use the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF). The airport features a single asphalt runway 13-31, which is 3,499-foot long and 77 foot wide. The field elevation is 1,179 feet mean sea level (msl).
WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION
The accident site was located about 590 feet northeast of KCHU's runway, in an open soybean field. The wreckage path consisted of several ground scars and airplane pieces which extended approximately 100 feet from the main wreckage on a 260 degree heading. The first impact point was a ground scar which contained remains of a green navigation light lens. From the first impact point, about 24 feet from the green lens fragments, the ground scar contained several cuts; the next major ground scar contained the airplane's nose baggage door and fragmented pieces of windshield. Both wings had extensive damage, and were twisted in an upward position from the wing roots. The airplane's fuel bladders, located in the wings, were compromised, however, a small amount of fuel was found in the tanks. The left engine and engine mount had mostly separated from, but remained next to, the left wing. The right engine had totally separated from the wing and was located about 15 feet to the right of the main wreckage. The ground scars and wreckage were consistent with the airplane's right wing impact, followed by the right engine and fuselage impact. The airplane came to rest in an upright position, turned about 180-degrees, and facing the first impact point. The landing gear and flaps were in the retracted positions. Control continuity was established from the tail control surfaces to the forward section of the fuselage; aileron continuity was established out to the left and right bellcranks; the right aileron bellcrank had impact damage.
MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION
The Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, conducted autopsies on the pilot and pilot rated passenger. The causes of death were determined to be "multiple blunt force injuries".
The FAA Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, performed toxicology tests on the pilot and pilot rated passenger. These tests were negative for carbon monoxide, ethanol, and tested drugs.
TEST AND RESEARCH
The wreckage was recovered and examinations of the airplane's engines were conducted. Continuity was established from the front of the crankshaft to the rear gear drive section of each engines, and through their valve trains. The top set of sparkplugs were removed, each engine was rotated by hand; each cylinder produced suction and compression during a thumb test. Both magnetos were removed from each engine; all four rotated freely and produced a spark on each terminal. The engines fuel flow dividers were removed and opened, along with the fuel pumps, and fuel servos. The units contained residual fuel and appeared clear of any contaminants. Both propellers remained attached to their respective engines, and had similar signatures. For identification purposes the propeller blades are referred to as blade A or B. The left engine's propeller blade A appeared straight and absent any polishing or scoring; blade B was bent towards the cambered side, about 12 inches from the hub to about a 45-degree angle. The blade had only minor leading edge polishing near the tip of the blade. The right engine's propeller also had one blade (blade B) bent towards the cambered side, starting about 12 inches from the hub, to about a 45-degree angle. Blade B had only minor leading edge polishing, outboard of the deicing boot. Blade A was relatively straight and absent any scuffs or scoring on the blade.
No abnormalities were found that would have prevented the engines from producing rated power.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The surviving passenger stated that he didn't know why they would be at Caledonia; however, typically they would pick a place about half-way to their destination, to exercise the dogs, use the restroom, and to refuel the airplane. He added that he'd flown with them numerous times, and never observed anything unsafe with the pilots or airplane. The usual routine would be to put the airplane away full of fuel.
http://registry.faa.gov/N6068Y
NTSB Identification: CEN14FA034
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, November 01, 2013 in Caledonia, MN
Aircraft: PIPER PA 23-250, registration: N6068Y
Injuries: 3 Fatal,1 Serious.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On November 1, 2013 around 1515 central daylight time (CDT), a Piper PA-23-250 airplane, N6068Y, impacted terrain near the Houston County Airport (KCHU), Caledonia, Minnesota. The private rated pilot and two passengers were fatally injured and one passenger received serious injury. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to Garlam Aviation, Troy, Michigan, and operated by a private individual. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 cross-country flight. The flight originated from the Oakland/Troy Airport (KVLL), Troy Michigan about 1100 CDT.
There were no reported witnesses to the accident; however, a local resident discovered the airplane wreckage and alerted authorities.
The accident site was located about 590 feet northeast of KCHU's runway, in an open soybean field. The wreckage path consisted of several ground scars and airplane pieces extended approximately 100 feet from the main wreckage on a 260 degree heading. The first impact point was a ground scar which contained remains of a green navigation light lens. From the first impact point, about 24 feet from the green lens fragments, the ground scar contained several "cuts"; the next major ground scar contained the airplane's nose baggage door and fragmented pieces of windshield. The ground scars and wreckage is consistent with a right wing airplane down impact followed by the right engine and fuselage impact. The airplane came to rest in an upright position, turned about a 180-degree and facing the first impact point.
According to a preliminary review of air traffic control communications and radar data, the airplane departed KVLL and flew for about three hours en route to KCHU. Prior to reaching KCHU, the pilot was cleared for the GPS-A approach; the pilot canceled his IFR clearance about 1405. There was no reported distress calls from the pilot.
After initial documentation of the wreckage site, the wreckage was recovered for further examination.
AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, THERE WERE 4 PERSONS ON BOARD, 3 WERE FATALLY INJURED, 1 SUSTAINED SERIOUS INJURIES, NEAR CALEDONIA, MN
CALEDONIA, Minnesota (WXOW) – Federal authorities continue to investigate what caused a twin-engine plane crash in Houston County Friday.
About a dozen units responded to the crash.
When dealing with a mass trauma, mutual aid is crucial, said Caledonia Ambulance Director Mike Tornstrom.
Tornstrom has worked as a paramedic for more than 20 years, and in that time, has only seen a plane crash twice, maybe three times.
"We used to dealing with car accidents. That's one of the things that we deal with on a common basis. So we know exactly what our fellow fire department personnel are going to do," Tornstrom said. "In the situation of an airplane crash, we have no idea."
But with any trauma, Tornstrom and his fellow paramedics rely heavily on other responding units, like firefighters, who help extricate patients.
Friday's plane crash near Caledonia had four. And since Caledonia only has two ambulances, they had to rely on Tri-State and Spring Grove to back them up. Generally one ambulance is assigned to one patient.
"The first unit on scene is instant command. Once you arrive on scene as an additional unit, you take orders from them," Tornstrom said.
"Obviously a plane crash this magnitude, they would just launch us," said Terry Dorshorst, flight nurse for MedLink AIR.
If MedLink AIR is called, they often land while paramedics are triaging, Dorshorst said. "If we don't take anyone, we don't take anyone. At least we're up, we're in the air, and we're there if they need us."
According to Dorshorst, transporting a patient via helicopter isn't always the quickest option. But when there's a lot of traffic, or the accident is in a rural area, MedLink often lends a hand.
"To us it's a trauma. If someone needs expedient help, then we get here as fast as we can," Dorshorst said, adding that extra speed can help save a life.
The National Transportation Safety Board said at the earliest, they expect a preliminary report on the crash to be out by the end of the week.
The Houston County Sheriff's Office and NTSB are looking to talk to anyone who has information regarding the crash, or witnessed the crash.
The Sheriff's Office can be reached at (507) 725-3379. NTSB can be contacted 24/7 at (202) 314-6297.
Source: http://www.wxow.com
