Piper PA-31T N63CA

Summary

On 15 March 2013 at about 20:21 local time, a Piper PA-31T registered N63CA, operated by M.A.S. Inc., was involved in an accident near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 March 2013 at 20:21

Classification

Accident

Location

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Fort Lauderdale Executive (FXE)

Coordinates

26.1917, -80.1561

Aircraft

Piper PA-31T

Registration

N63CA

Category

Airplane

Year built

1978

Engines

2

Operator

M.A.S. Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Flight Test

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Lauderdale → Fort Lauderdale

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13FA168

3 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain airplane control following an emergency, the nature of which could not be determined because of crash and fire damage, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The multiengine airplane had not been flown for about 4 months and was being prepared for export. The pilot was attempting a local test flight after avionics upgrades had been performed. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot transmitted that he was experiencing an "emergency"; however, he did not state the nature of the emergency. The airplane was observed experiencing difficulty climbing and entered a right turn back toward the airport. It subsequently stalled, rolled right about 90 degrees, and descended. The airplane impacted several parked vehicles and came to rest inverted. A postcrash fire destroyed the airframe. Both engines were destroyed by fire and impact damage. The left propeller assembly was fire damaged, and the right propeller assembly remained attached to the gearbox, which separated from the engine. Examination of wreckage did not reveal any preimpact malfunctions. It was noted that the left engine displayed more pronounced rotational signatures than the right engine, but this difference could be attributed to the impact sequence. The left propeller assembly displayed evidence of twisting and rotational damage, and the right propeller assembly did not display any significant evidence of twisting or rotational damage indicative of operation with a difference in power. The lack of flight recorders and the condition of the wreckage precluded the gathering of additional relevant information.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.