N954S

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On September 29, 2001, approximately 1126 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-30 airplane, N954S, impacted a cattle pasture approximately 3/4 mile south of the approach end of runway 34 at McCall Airport, McCall, Idaho, while on approach to runway 34 at McCall. The airplane was substantially damaged by impact forces and a post-crash fire, and the private pilot, who owned the airplane and was its sole occupant, was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions were reported by the airport's automated surface observation system (ASOS) at 1050, and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR 91 personal flight from Friedman Memorial Airport, Hailey, Idaho, which departed Friedman Memorial at 1017.

Another pilot, who was operating a Mooney airplane in the McCall traffic pattern at the time, reported to an FAA investigator that he heard the accident pilot call left base for runway 34 on the airport's common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF). This pilot reported that the accident pilot's base call sounded normal, with no sign of distress in the accident pilot's voice. The Mooney pilot, who reported he was on downwind when he heard the accident pilot's base call, reported that he did not see the accident aircraft until it had crashed.

Three individuals provided witness statements to the Valley County, Idaho, Sheriff's Department. The first witness reported seeing a small plane "that looked like it was having trouble", and (the witness thought) "flying too low." This witness reported that the airplane was flying south and "made a sharp turn to the East, but was dipping its wings as it appeared to be making a landing." The second witness reported that the aircraft "came from a south east heading on approach to the McCall airport directly overhead." This witness stated that about one mile to the north, the airplane drifted to the right (east), then corrected to the left (west), and at that point "the left wing went down tail up." The airplane then went out of this witness's line of sight behind a ridge. The third witness reported that he saw the plane "coming in very low, to land then it started swaying from side to side and then turned towards the Northwest." The third witness reported that the aircraft then "went into a spen [sic] sideways", then went out of his line of sight. The third witness reported that he then heard the crash.

The accident occurred during daylight hours at approximately 44 degrees 52.2 minutes North latitude and 116 degrees 6.3 minutes West longitude.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land and airplane multiengine land ratings, with a date of issue of June 23, 2000. A burned copy of a pilot logbook found in the aircraft wreckage was sufficiently readable to extract a total pilot time of 372.7 hours as of the last entry, and contained an endorsement for high-performance and complex airplanes (the date of this endorsement was burned away.)

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

According to the FAA aircraft registry, the accident airplane was manufactured in 1968, and was registered to the pilot on April 17, 2000. Copies of the aircraft logbooks furnished by the pilot's wife indicated that the aircraft received its last annual inspection signoff on July 17, 2001, at 2,100.9 hours airframe total time (the July 17, 2001 annual inspection signoff indicated 2.048.6 hours total time and 169.3 hours aircraft recording hour meter time; however, the previous aircraft log entry, dated September 9, 2000, gave the aircraft total time as 2,027.2 hours and the recording hour meter time as 95.6 hours.) The annual inspection was performed by Shore & Shore Aviation of Caldwell, Idaho. Copies of the engine logbooks furnished by the pilot's wife indicated that at the time of the last annual inspection, both of the aircraft's turbocharged Lycoming IO-320-C1A engines had 2,100.9 hours (the July 17, 2001 annual inspection signoff in the engine logs indicated 2,048.6 hours total time and 169.3 hours aircraft recording hour meter time; however, the previous aircraft log entry, dated February 16, 2001, for work accomplished on the aircraft in Tucson, Arizona, gave the aircraft total time as 2,046.1 hours and the recording hour meter time as 114.5 hours.) The July 17, 2001 annual inspection entry was the most recent entry furnished with the aircraft logbook copies, as well as with both engine logbook copies, submitted by the pilot's wife. Textron Lycoming Service Instruction No. 1009AQ gives the manufacturer's recommended time between overhauls (TBO) for IO-320-C series engines as 1,800 hours.

In a letter to the NTSB investigator-in-charge dated February 20, 2002, the attorney for the pilot's wife stated:

...Following the annual check up [in July 2001], [the pilot] took the

plane in the latter part of July on a short flight from Caldwell to

McCall. He felt that the plane's left fuel/engine was still not working

correctly and brought it back to Shore & Shore for them to evaluate

further. The plane remained at Shore & Shore for continued

maintenance until September 28, 2001....

The NTSB obtained a copy of Shore & Shore Aviation invoice No. 005498 dated September 28, 2001 (the day before the accident), that indicated that Shore & Shore Aviation had performed the following maintenance on the accident aircraft:

ADJUST MIXTURE IDLE CUTOFF, FUEL PRESSURE

ON BOTH ENGINES. REMOVE AND REPLACE RIGHT

RIGHT [sic] MAIN TIRE. CLEANED FUEL INJECTORS.

REMOVED AND REPLACED UPPER DECK HOSES.

The invoice total included a charge for 7.75 hours of labor. No entries in the aircraft or engine logbooks documenting this work were noted, and the invoice itself did not contain the name of the person performing the work, nor the signature, certificate number, or kind of certificate held by the person approving the work. Discrepancies in the engine serial numbers were also noted on this invoice, with one engine serial number being recorded as "L3654-55" and the other being recorded as "L3654-55A" (the actual left engine serial number was L-3654-55A, and the actual right engine serial number was L-3653-55A.) When the NTSB investigator-in-charge asked the owner of Shore & Shore Aviation to describe how the fuel pressure adjustment was accomplished, the owner stated that the invoice entry must have been made in error, and that his firm did not adjust the fuel pressure on the aircraft. The attorney for the pilot's wife submitted a copy of a check (number 166), dated September 28, 2001, made out to "Shore & Shore" and signed by the pilot and his wife, in the amount of the invoice total for Shore & Shore Invoice No. 005498. The copy of this check indicated that Shore & Shore Aviation had endorsed the check.

The accident aircraft's fuel system consisted of six fuel tanks (three in each wing). Each wing contained a main tank (30 gallons capacity/27 gallons usable), auxiliary tank (15 gallons capacity) and tip tank (15 gallons capacity). The total fuel capacity was 120 gallons, of which 114 gallons were usable. Fuel tank feed is selected by means of two fuel selectors, one for each side. Each selector can be positioned to four different positions: OFF, AUX, MAIN, or CROSS FEED. Feed from the auxiliary or tip tank on each side is accomplished by placing the fuel selector on that side to AUX and selecting an additional, two-position switch on that side's fuel selector to AUX or TIP, as desired. The Piper Turbo Twin Comanche B Owner's Handbook (Piper Part No. 761 452), March 1971 revision, specifies that fuel from the auxiliary and tip tanks is to be used during level flight only, and that fuel should be used from the main fuel cells for takeoff, landing, climb and descent. The handbook gives the aircraft's range as 820 statute miles (713 nautical miles) based on the following parameters: 10,000 feet density altitude; 75% power with best economy mixture (producing a total fuel consumption of 17.2 gallons per hour at 2,400 RPM); standard temperatures; "full fuel at take-off with 84 [gallons] usable"; and 45 minutes reserve fuel at cruise. It was not determined where the aircraft last refueled.

The Piper Turbo Twin Comanche B Owner's Handbook gives the following performance figures for the aircraft, based on flight at maximum gross weight and standard sea level (or stated altitude) conditions: single-engine minimum control speed (Vmc) 90 MPH; stalling speed (gear and flaps down, power off) 69 MPH; stalling speed (gear and flaps up, power off) 76 MPH; single-engine rate of climb 165 feet per minute; best single-engine rate of climb speed (Vyse) 105 MPH; single engine absolute ceiling 12,600 feet; and single engine service ceiling 8,800 feet.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

The 1050 automated METAR observation at McCall reported conditions there as winds from 210 degrees true at 4 knots, clear skies with 10 statute miles visibility, temperature 9 degrees C, dewpoint 6 degrees C, and altimeter setting 30.26 inches Hg. At 1150, conditions at McCall were reported as calm winds, clear skies with 10 statute miles visibility, temperature 12 degrees C, dewpoint 4 degrees C, and altimeter setting 30.26 inches Hg. Based on the temperature and altimeter setting reported at 1150, and the McCall airport elevation of 5,020 feet, density altitude at the airport at 1150 was computed to be 5,425 feet.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

An on-site investigation of the aircraft wreckage was conducted by investigators from the NTSB, FAA, New Piper Aircraft Corporation, and engine manufacturer Textron Lycoming from September 30 to October 1, 2001. The aircraft had crashed into a level to rolling cattle pasture about 0.7 nautical mile south of the McCall runway 34 approach end, slightly west of the runway 34 extended centerline. The wreckage area originated at a ground scar (hereafter referred to as the "initial ground scar") containing wing tip tank fra...