Piper PA-31-310 N7578L

Summary

On 17 July 1998 at about 18:31 local time, a Piper PA-31-310 registered N7578L was involved in an accident near Miami, Florida, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 July 1998 at 18:31

Classification

Accident

Location

Miami, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Kendall-Tamiami Executive (TMB)

Coordinates

25.6496, -80.4105

Aircraft

Piper PA-31-310

Registration

N7578L

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA98FA200

1 person died.

The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection which led to fuel contamination and subsequent loss of engine power. Also causal was the pilot's failure to maintain single engine flying speed (VMC).

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

An aircraft mechanic working abeam of the point on the runway that the airplane lifted off was attracted by the sound of engine roughness, and observed black smoke trailing from the left engine. The airplane continued to climb to about 150 feet above ground level, entered a series of shallow left turns at about the airport's east boundary at a slow speed, and then entered a rapid left roll and pitched down. The pilot transmitted an unreadable call on FAA tower frequency, but the words, 'we got a..' and 'engine' were clearly discernable. The airplane crashed in dense brush about 1.25 miles northeast of the airport. Contamination was found in the left engine fuel system. Post crash testing of the left fuel servo revealed it would not sustain a steady state fuel flow above about one half throttle due to contamination.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.