N77DE

On April 20, 1998, about 1847 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-46-310P, N77DE, registered to Innovative Dynamics, Inc., collided with a tree then the ground north of the runway at the Beaufort County Airport, Beaufort, South Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and an IFR flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The airplane was substantially damaged and the commercial-rated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated at 165, from the Vero Beach Municipal Airport, Vero Beach, Florida.

The fuel tanks were topped then the airplane was flown, by another pilot from Mobile, Alabama, to Orlando, Florida, a flight lasting 2 hours 2 minutes, as determined by Air Traffic Control (ATC). The accident pilot then flew the airplane from that location to the Vero Beach Municipal Airport; a flight lasting 42 minutes according to ATC. The flight then departed on the third leg with approximately 60 gallons of fuel on board as indicated by the fuel gauges, and climbed to flight level 190, where the flight remained until about 100 nautical miles from the airport. The pilot began his descent and when the flight was about 8 miles from the destination airport while assigned by the controller to maintain 1,500 feet msl, the controller questioned the pilot about descending below the assigned altitude. The pilot pushed the mixture, propeller, and throttle controls forward, but the airplane continued losing altitude, descending to 1,000 feet. The engine rpm's then began to fluctuate and he repositioned the fuel selector from the left to the right tank, when the engine quit. He also turned the auxiliary fuel pump to the "high" position and positioned the alternate air door to the "open" position, which had no affect. He also repositioned the fuel selector several more times. He noted that the left and right fuel gauges indicated 30 and 15 respectively. The pilot estimated the tanks should have contained 15 gallons each. The pilot advised the controller that the engine quit and the flight was vectored to the Beaufort County Airport. The pilot advised the controller that the field was not in sight and the controller advised the pilot that the airport was off his left wing about 1 mile. The pilot advised that he was unable to make it and would land straight ahead. While descending nearly perpendicular to and near the approach end of runway 24, the airplane collided with trees, impacted the ground south of the southern edge of the runway, rolled across the runway, and came to rest upright in a marsh about 300 feet north of the northern edge of the runway. The right wing separated during the impact sequence. The airplane and right wing were recovered about 0215 and 1300 hours respectively the next day.

According to an individual who walked out to the aircraft, there was a strong odor of fuel near the airplane. According to the pilot's father who helped recover the right wing, fuel leaked from it during recovery.

Examination of the airplane by an FAA Airworthiness Inspector revealed that the auxiliary fuel pump was in the "high" position, the alternate air door was "open", and the fuel selector was positioned to the "left" tank. Approximately 14 gallons of fuel were drained from the left wing fuel tank. A slight amount of fuel was drained from the recovered right wing fuel tank which was found to contain fuel and water. No obstructions were noted from the left wing fuel tank to the flow divider. No obstructions of the fuel vents were noted. Operational check of the auxiliary fuel pump was satisfactory when electric power was applied directly to the pump. The damaged propeller was removed and a test propeller was installed for the attempted engine run. The engine was started and operated to full rated rpm with no discrepancies noted.

Fuel consumption calculations based on the statement pertaining to fueling, flight times recorded by air traffic control, altitudes and fuel flow settings for each leg, revealed that at the time of the accident, the total fuel consumed for the three legs were 86.3 gallons. The total usable fuel capacity is 120 gallons.