Piper PA-44-180 N3040A

Summary

On 9 October 1998 at about 19:30 local time, a Piper PA-44-180 registered N3040A was involved in an accident near Howell, Michigan, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 October 1998 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Howell, Michigan, United States

Nearest airport

Livingston County Airport (OZW)

Coordinates

42.6008, -83.9299

Aircraft

Piper PA-44-180

Registration

N3040A

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Terre Haute → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI99FA003

2 people died.

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.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB 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.'

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.