Piper PA-23-250 N859DA

Summary

On 23 November 2005 at about 18:00 local time, a Piper PA-23-250 registered N859DA was involved in an accident near Bixby, Oklahoma, United States. 2 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

23 November 2005 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Bixby, Oklahoma, United States

Nearest airport

Richard Lloyd Jones Jr (RVS)

Coordinates

36.0436, -95.9853

Aircraft

Piper PA-23-250

Registration

N859DA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tulsa → Brookhaven

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW06CA033

Nobody was injured.

The loss of engine power due to water contamination and corrosion in both gascolators due to improper maintenance. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After a detailed preflight inspection and a 15-minute run up, the 1,684-hour commercial pilot and a pilot-rated passenger, who had recently purchased the twin-engine airplane, departed on a 385-nautical mile cross-country flight to ferry the airplane to it's new home base. About 25 minutes into the flight, while in cruise flight at 2,500 feet, the left engine lost power. The pilot elected not to secure the left engine as he felt that the engine was producing some power; however, he elected to return to the departure airport. En-route back to the airport, the right engine also experienced a partial loss of power. The pilot was unable maintain altitude and selected a nearby hay field to execute a forced landing. The pilot was able to clear some powerlines short of his intended forced landing area, and made a normal landing on the hay field. During the landing roll on the hay field, the airplane impacted a 2-foot berm/terrace in the field, collapsing the nose landing gear assembly. Examination of the airplane revealed that fuel was present in the fuel tanks; however, water and corrosion were found in both left and right side gascolators.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.