WPR09FA015

A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to choose a suitable landing area.

The pilot was in cruise flight on a southerly heading at 13,700 feet mean sea level (msl), and initiated a 180-degree climbing left turn to 14,500 feet. He reported to air traffic control (ATC) that the engine was “missing badly,” and he was returning to his home airport. One minute later, he reported a complete loss of engine power. The pilot decided that he could not make his home base, and elected to head for an alternate airport with ATC guidance. The pilot indicated to ATC that he did not have the airport in sight and was trying to locate it with his global positioning satellite system (GPS). The last recorded radar position was 2.9 miles southeast of the airport and 6,200 feet above field elevation with the airplane on a northerly track. The airplane collided with trees 1.9 miles northwest of the airport while on a southerly heading. While maneuvering, the pilot overflew suitable, unobstructed places to land. Post accident download of an engine data management system displayed stable conditions initially followed by fluctuations in the fuel flow, as well as fluctuations of all six exhaust gas temperature (EGT) and cylinder head temperature (CHT) indications. Over the next two minutes, the readings smoothed out, and then the fuel flow increased while the EGT and CHT dropped to low values indicative of a loss of power. The engine was inspected and prepared for an engine run in a test cell. After replacing several damaged parts including the fuel pump, the engine started easily and ran smoothly throughout its entire power range with no anomalies discovered. The reasons for the fluctuations to the fuel flow, EGT and CHT were not determined.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 16, 2008, about 1100 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-28R-201T, N9581C, collided with trees during a forced landing near Markleeville, California. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The private pilot was killed; the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and wings. The cross-country business flight departed Minden, Nevada, about 1010, with a planned destination of Camarillo, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. A witness at the Minden airport noticed the airplane follow a taxiway to runway 34. He did not hear any unusual engine sounds, and he did not observe any smoke or fluids leaking from the airplane. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) indicated that the pilot was in contact with Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC). The Safety Board investigator-in-charge (IIC) reviewed the ARTCC transcript, which indicated that the pilot contacted them at 1016:54. He stated that he was 10 miles south of Minden at 12,900 feet, and requested visual flight rules (VFR) flight following to Camarillo. ARTCC assigned a secondary beacon code of 3337, and informed him that they had radar contact at 1017:41. Recorded radar data for a target with the beacon code of 3337 at 1018:02 indicated a mode C reported altitude of 13,700 feet. This position computed to be 10.5 miles at 169 degrees from Minden. At 1020:14, the target was 0.6 mile at 113 degrees from Alpine County Airport, and tracking to the south. The target maintained 13,700 feet until 1023:50, when it began an ascending 180-degree left turn. It reached a maximum mode C altitude of 14,500 feet at 1025:14. At 1025:16, the pilot informed ARTCC that he had an engine problem, and was heading back to Minden. He said that the engine was running, but “missing badly.” The controller pointed out that Alpine County Airport was 11-o’clock at 10 miles, if the pilot needed it. The pilot indicated that he was going to try for Minden, but would head for Alpine if the engine started missing again. At 1026:23, the pilot requested that the controller give him the Alpine airport information again, and reported that he had just lost power completely. At 1026:26, the mode C altitude was 14,200 feet. The controller informed the pilot that Alpine was 11-o’clock at 5 miles. During their conversation, the controller noted that the airport elevation was 5,867 feet, the 4,440-foot runway had a hard surface, and the runways were 17 and 35. The pilot requested the identifier so that he could put it in his global positioning satellite system (GPS). After the pilot indicated that he did not have the airport in sight, the controller indicated that the airport was 11- to 12-o’clock at 4 miles. The last recorded radar contact occurred at 1028:26, at a mode C altitude of 12,100 feet. From this position, Alpine County Airport was 2.9 miles at 321 degrees, and Minden was 18.6 miles at 343 degrees. At 1028:30, the pilot stated that his altitude was 11,800 feet. The controller asked him if he had completely lost his engine, or if it was still running. The pilot said that he had, “pretty much completely lost it.” The controller pointed out that Alpine was 12-o’clock at 2-3 miles, and the pilot indicated that he was still looking for it. At 1029:46, the controller stated that radar contact had been lost, but received an unintelligible response. The controller asked an airline pilot to try to contact the pilot, and see if he had the airport in sight. The airline pilot informed the controller that the pilot had the airport, and would try to do his best to contact flight service once on the ground as requested by the controller. A witness about 2 miles from the Alpine airport was driving east on Diamond Valley Road, and saw an airplane flying low. He saw the airplane disappear from sight around a low hill to his right. The witness turned right to go to work, and as he passed the hill where he last saw the airplane, he noticed something white about 100 yards off the road. He went to investigate, and saw the inverted wreckage of the airplane. Witnesses about 1 mile west of the accident site observed a single-engine airplane fly in a northerly direction over a hill to the east of their position. It circled clockwise with the right wing down, and then headed in a southerly direction toward Indian Creek Reservoir, which was between the accident site and Alpine County Airport. They thought that the airplane had power, and that its landing gear was not down. The airplane disappeared from their view. PERSONNEL INFORMATION A review of FAA airman records revealed that the 53-year-old pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. He had a third-class medical certificate issued on December 8, 2007. It had no limitations or waivers. An examination of the pilot's logbook indicated an estimated total flight time of 252 hours. He logged 17.5 hours in the last 90 days, and 12.8 hours in the last 30 days. He had an estimated 183 hours in this make and model, and completed a biennial flight review on March 3, 2008. AIRCRAFT INFORMATION The airplane was a Piper PA-28R-201T, serial number 28R-7803267. A review of the airplane’s logbooks revealed that the airplane had a total airframe time of 3,151 hours at the last annual inspection on August 1, 2008. The airplane experienced a nose landing gear collapse on landing on May 10, 2008. The engine was a Teledyne Continental Motors (TCM) TSIO-360FB, serial number 299720-R. Total time recorded on the engine at the last annual inspection was 1,381 hours. Victor Engines overhauled the engine following the nose gear collapse, and time since major overhaul was 4 hours at the annual. Fueling records at Soar Minden established that the airplane was last fueled on October 9, 2008, with the addition of 55 gallons of 100-octane aviation fuel. This occurred on the same date as the pilot’s last logged flight, which was from Camarillo to Minden. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION The accident site to be 313 degrees at 1.9 miles from Alpine County Airport. The first identified point of contact (FIPC) was a tree with broken limbs and the right aileron balance weight at its base. The debris path was along a magnetic bearing of 180 degrees. The next pieces in the debris field were an outboard section of the right horizontal stabilator and the right wing tip fairing, which contained the green navigation light. Broken tree limbs were scattered throughout the debris field from the FIPC to the main wreckage. About 20 feet further in the debris field was a 12-inch-diameter tree that had the top missing. Aft of the tree and in the direction of the debris field was the middle section of the right horizontal stabilator and a section of right wing skin containing the fuel cap. The airplane came to rest inverted about 208 feet from the FIPC, and the orientation of the fuselage was about 080 degrees. Adjacent to the FIPC’s north border were a 1/4–mile-wide treeless pasture and a straight, paved country road. The straight section of the road and pasture were both over 1,500 feet long. MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION The Alpine County Coroner completed an autopsy, and determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma. The FAA Forensic Toxicology Research Team, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, performed toxicological testing of specimens of the pilot. Analysis of the specimens contained no findings for carbon monoxide, cyanide, volatiles, and tested drugs. TESTS AND RESEARCH Investigators examined the wreckage at Plain Parts, Pleasant Grove, California, on October 18, 2008. Airframe The fuel selector valve was in the left tank position. The landing gear was down and locked. The gear handle in t