N4451X

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On March 14, 2002, about 1628 eastern standard time, a Piper PA32R-300, N4451X, registered to Ram Air Freight Inc., and operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 135 nonscheduled cargo flight, collided with a television transmission tower in Broadway, North Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The commercial-rated pilot, the sole occupant of the aircraft received fatal injuries, and the tower and the airplane were destroyed. The flight originated from Greenville, North Carolina, the same day, about 1545.

A witness stated that he, his wife, and their two children were in their front yard, and they heard an aircraft engine. They all turned around to look at the airplane and he said he noted that the airplane was flying "westward or into the sun." He stated that as the airplane approached the tower, it appeared to have been lower than other airplanes he had seen fly over the tower previously. He stated that the airplane appeared to hit a guy wire, and that he did not notice any attempt to correct the flight path before the collision occurred. He also said that there had been no signs of trouble with the airplane's engine. As the airplane collided, it "jolted to the left, and exploded in mid air." He said that the collision appeared to have occurred about 3/4 of the way up the tower, and about 4 or 5 seconds after the explosion, the tower fell in the direction that the aircraft had been traveling. He said that at the time of the accident, the sky was clear, and the tower was visible.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot, age 28, held both FAA commercial pilot, and flight instructor certificates, with airplane single and multiengine land and instrument ratings. The pilot also held a ground instructor certificate with advanced and instrument ratings. Records indicated that the commercial pilot certificate had been issued on March 24, 2000, and the flight instructor certificate was last issued on December 21, 2000. He also held an FAA first class medical certificate, issued on July 2, 2001, with no stated limitations.

The pilot's personal logbook was not obtained by the NTSB, however, according to information obtained from the operator, Ram Air Freight Inc., the pilot had accumulated about 1,709 flight hours, of which about 600 hours were in the same make and model airplane as the accident airplane, about 187 hours had been flown in the last 90 days, and 39 hours were flown in the last 30 days. Ram Air Freight's pilot related records also showed that the pilot had been hired and had received his initial FAA Part 135 competency flight check on July 5, 2001. He was a check airman for Ram Air Freight Inc., and had made about seven previous flights along that route. According to the address on the pilot's certificate, he resided in the town of Sanford, North Carolina, about 10 miles from the accident site.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The accident airplane is a 1975 Piper Lance, model number PA-32R-300, serial number 32R-7680018. It was outfitted with two seats, and configured to carry cargo. At the time of the accident it was transporting checks and other financial documents for Wachovia Bank.

N4451X was equipped with a Textron Lycoming IO-540K-1B5D. The serial number was not verifiable at the scene, however, maintenance records showed that its serial number was L-21296-48A. The engine had last been overhauled at the Lycoming factory, and had been installed in on July 24, 2001. It had last received an annual inspection on March 7, 2002, about 16 hours before the accident, and had accumulated a total of 3807.7 hours, about 472.5 hours since major overhaul. At the time of the accident, the airplane had accumulated a total of 13550 flight hours. The airplane was equipped with a Hartzell propeller, model number HC-C2YK-1B CH33007B.

Airplane maintenance records also showed that the airplane had received its last static system, altimeter and transponder calibration check on January 3, 2002, and its last VOR receiver check on January 2, 2002.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The Sanford-Lee County Regional Airport 1701, surface weather observation was, clear skies, winds from 160 degrees at 6 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, temperature 22 degrees C, dewpoint temperature 14 degrees C, altimeter setting 30.06 inHg.

A review of pertinent astrological data showed that sunset was projected to be at 1823 eastern standard time, and the end of civil twilight projected for 1848. At the time of the accident the sun's altitude above the horizon was 22 degrees, with a true bearing of 250 degrees. Moonset was projected to be at 1901 eastern standard time, and the moon's phase was a waxing crescent, projected to be 1 percent illuminated.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

The accident tower is a strobe equipped, galvanized, guy wired communications tower, which according to information supplied by the tower engineer at the scene, was owned by Capital Broadcasting Company, and was leased to WKFT channel 40. According to the antenna license, the tower's address is 1452 Buckhorn Road, Broadway, North Carolina.

The tower site was situated on a hill top, in a heavily wooded area, close to the borders of Harnett and Lee counties, in a rural area of North Carolina, about 7 miles from the town of Broadway, North Carolina. The tower's charted elevation was 1749 ft AGL (2149 ft MSL). The tower site is a fenced-in compound, consisting of the tower with its associated guy wires, antennas, cabling, waveguide/piping, routed from the tower to the electronic equipment building, located at the base of the tower. The areas bordering the compound consists of forest, brush, and other vegetation, in an area what consists of rolling hills and associated ravines. Guy wires from the tower radiated from the tower outward to concrete blocked anchor positions, located a significant distance outboard.

The accident debris field covered an area of about a 700-yard radius, radiating outward from the tower's plotted position, and because of the towers total collapse, to each guy wire anchor point. There was a mix of airplane pieces/debris, debris from the damaged equipment building, damaged fencing that surrounded the antenna, and sections of antenna tower and guy wire. The upper sections of the tower had fallen in the general vicinity of the tower's position, with longer sections of tower having collapsed outward from the compound and into the wooded areas immediately surrounding the tower. Some sections of tower also fell on the building that housed the equipment and damaged sections of its roof and walls. All the guy wires lay on the ground, and some had unraveled, displaying individual strands, and some strands had frayed. Along areas where each guy wire normally would have been suspended, after the accident the wires lay on the ground surrounded by severed tree branches, uprooted brush/vegetation, and deeply gouged mounds of disturbed soil, from the towers preaccident position, outboard to the guy wire anchor blocks. Impact marks, as well as burn/soot marks were found on sections 45 and 46 of the tower structure, and when the tower engineer referenced the relative position of these tower sections to the engineering tower drawings, the sections of tower were determined to correspond to a tower elevation of about 1,425 feet.

The airplane was destroyed as a result of the impact and subsequent explosion, and scattered sections of airplane parts/pieces and cargo were spread throughout the heavily wooded/ brush areas surrounding the tower. Airplane related debris was located generally to the west and along the general direction of flight, with pieces of the airplane being suspended in the trees, and many other pieces of airplane debris/cargo positioned as much as 200 to 300 yards from the tower position. All pieces of the airplane displayed evidence of fire and overstress damage consistent with a high energy, high velocity impact. The impact, explosion and destruction/fragmentation of the airplane precluded verification of flight control continuity, however upon reviewing the airplane pieces that remained, no preaccident failure or malfunctions were evident with the airframe, the flight controls, or the engine. Some airplane instruments were recovered and they had incurred fire and/or impact damage. The altimeter was damaged but readable, and indicated an altitude of between 1,100 and 1,200 feet on its face, with a corresponding reading of 29.98 in the Kollsman window.

The left wing had separated at the wing root and its associated aileron and flap had incurred damage. The left main landing gear had detached from the wing, and the left inboard fuel tank had been consumed by fire. The outboard fuel tank had its fuel cap in place, but the tank had also incurred damage and was leaking fuel. The right wing had separated at the root, and the associated aileron and flap had also separated from the wing, with each displaying fire and impact damage. The outboard portion of the right wing had also separated near the outboard fuel tank. The empennage had separated from the main fuselage, and the vertical fin had also separated and exhibited signs of fire damage. The rudder had separated at the rudder horn, but was attached at the middle hinge, and the he rudder cables separated consistent with overload in the general area where the main fuselage had separated. The stabilator had also incurred damage, and the stabilator trim actuator measurement was 3/8 inches, and no threads exposed, consistent with nose down trim having been applied.

The propeller was positioned with the engine as if it was still attached to the engine crankshaft, but the propeller mounting bolts had sheared, and it had detached. One of the propeller blades was about 29 inches long, and its end had incurred damage and was curled aft slightly. It also had a gouge about 25 ...