Piper PA-23-250 N62711

Summary

On 25 October 2004 at about 20:15 local time, a Piper PA-23-250 registered N62711, operated by Premier Airways Inc, was involved in an accident near San Juan, United States. 6 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 October 2004 at 20:15

Classification

Accident

Location

San Juan, United States

Nearest airport

Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci (TJIG)

Coordinates

18.4558, -66.1058

Aircraft

Piper PA-23-250

Registration

N62711

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Premier Airways Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

St. Croix → Isla Grande

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA05LA013

Nobody was injured.

The pilot-in-command's failure to maintain airspeed while on base to final leg, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush and subsequent impact with the runway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that, on the downwind leg, the air traffic controller (ATC) instructed him to extend the downwind for 2 miles from the airport for traffic. Shortly after, ATC instructed him to fly straight to the runway for a short approach from the Capital building and to expedite due to inbound traffic at that time. The pilot questioned ATC about the short final instructions because of the ships at the port in close proximity to the approach. The pilot stated, "On short final the aircraft had no control" and he applied full power to the engines; however, the airplane impacted on the runway, left wing first. A witness positioned about 1,000 feet from the approach end of runway 9, stated he observed the accident airplane over the inside pattern turning on a left turn for a short final approach for runway 9. The airplane continued to descend without any indication of recovery. He heard the engine speeding up before the left wing tip hit the surface and bounced back to the right hitting the nose and the right main gear, at this point both main landing gear separated. The airplane slid backwards for about 300 feet on the runway before coming to a stop. The six people onboard exited the airplane without assistance and appeared to have no injuries. An FAA Aviation Safety Inspector that conducted the post-accident examination to the accident airplane's flight controls stated that continuity of the flight controls was established and the accident airplane's flight control systems were determined to be in operational condition. Runway 9 at Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport, is a published 100-foot wide by 5,317 foot long runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.