N3829G

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn January 10, 2014, about 1948 eastern standard time, a Cessna 310R, N3829G, impacted trees and terrain about 1,500 feet west of the approach end of runway 9R (6,521 feet by 150 feet, asphalt) at Oakland County International Airport (PTK), Pontiac, Michigan, during a straight-in instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 9R. Night instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed at the time of the accident. The commercial pilot sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a post impact fire. The airplane was registered to and operated by Royal Air Freight, Inc. as flight RAX907 under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The positioning flight was operating on an instrument rules flight plan and departed from Fulton County Airport-Brown Field (FTY), Atlanta, Georgia, about 1701, and was destined to PTK.

During an interview with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Investigator-In-Charge (IIC), the pilot's wife stated that on the afternoon of January 6, 2014, her husband received a phone call from Royal Air Freight, Inc. to fly a flight to either Fargo, North Dakota or Atlanta, Georgia. After his departure for the trip on January 6, 2014, she had not seen him, and they communicated solely by text messages since that time. He was to return via a flight to Ohio. She said that a January 8, 2014 text message from her husband said that Royal Air Freight, Inc. dispatch told him to get a hotel room. A January 9, 2014 text message stated that he was to fly from Ohio to Minneapolis and that he would arrive in Pontiac, Michigan at 1800. At 1945, her husband sent a text message that described his frustration with Royal Air Freight, Inc.'s scheduling and that "there was a major lack of communication" from Royal Air Freight, Inc. About an hour later, he sent a text message saying that the airplane he was to fly, N3829G, was broken.

The pilot's wife said that they had planned a trip to Florida, which they were to depart for on January 11, 2014. They had planned to pick up a car rental in Detroit, Michigan on January 11, 2014 at 0900 and were to drive to Florida. They had purchased airline tickets for their return trip from Florida. She stated that she requested time off from her employment about two months before the trip.

A maintenance facility in Atlanta, Georgia, issued a maintenance work order dated January 10, 2014 for N3829G, which stated the right engine starter was inoperative, and the left tire pressure was low. The right engine starter was removed and replaced with an overhauled starter, and the subsequent operational check of the starter was "good". The left tire was filled with nitrogen.

On January 10, 2014, a filed instrument flight plan was activated for RAX907 for a flight from FTY to PTK with a proposed departure time of 1650 and a cruise altitude of 7,000 feet mean sea level (msl). The filed alternate airport for the flight was Bishop International Airport (FNT), Flint, Michigan, which was about 22.9 nautical miles (nm) northwest of PTK. The estimated time en route was 2 hours 28 minutes. On January 12, 2014, the NTSB IIC and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Coordinator met with the Royal Air Freight, Inc. chief pilot and the director of operations. During that meeting, the chief pilot stated that they did not know how much fuel was on board when N3829G departed for PTK, and they did not know the alternate airport for the flight. The chief pilot said that "the pilots file their own flight plans."

According to the Royal Air Freight, Inc. General Operations Specifications and Operations Specifications, Royal Air Freight, Inc. retains all responsibility for the operational control of aircraft operations, and thus the safety of each flight conducted under its certificate and operations specification, including the actions or inactions of all its direct employees and agents. Flight locating procedures required that the pilot-in-command of a flight give the dispatcher or a responsible person within Royal Air Freight, Inc. all information in a visual flight rules flight plan. (FAA Form 7233-1, "Flight Plan," contains an entry block for fuel on board and for alternate airport(s)).

On January 10, 2014, at 1658, RAX907 departed FTY and was provided initial air traffic control (ATC) radar service by Atlanta Terminal Radar Approach Control. RAX907 was provided ATC services by numerous TRACONs and air route traffic control centers (ARTCC) en route before being transferred to Detroit TRACON at 1922. According to FAA transcripts, the flight was uneventful.

Prior to RAX907's approach to PTK, another Royal Air Freight, Inc. flight, which was a Learjet 35A, RAX131, had flown the ILS runway 9R approach without incident. A written statement from the captain of RAX131, stated in part:

"Received PTK ATIS as [vertical visibility] 200 [feet], ½ mile visibility, wind [from] 160 [degrees at] 10 [knots]. After check-on with Detroit approach we heard an aircraft being vectored for the approach at PTK, so we listened to the PTK tower [frequency] on [the] secondary radio. He was given [runway visual range (RVR)] of 2,200 [feet] for 9R by the tower. We were vectored for the approach and when we checked on was given [RVR] of 2,000 [feet] for [runway] 9R and wind from 180 [degrees at] 10 [knots].

During the initial part of the approach the winds were strong out of the south. It was smooth, but took a 20 degree angle to maintain the localizer. At approximately 1,800 feet we encountered light to moderate chop and started losing the crosswind. No noticeable changes in airspeed but took out almost all of the crab angle to maintain the localizer.

At approximately 1,250 feet, [the second-in-command] called approach lights in sight. I responded with continue, and almost immediately Alex called green lights, runway in sight 12 o'clock. We continued and landed normally. Crosswind correction was minimal, no major airspeed/power changes noticed.

As we were exiting the runway at the end, left on "U", we heard RAX907 call the tower. Do not remember if the tower issued any weather, did hear them tell RAX907 that he was following a Challenger on a 2 mile final."

At 1922, RAX907 checked in with Detroit TRACON while descending out of 4,900 feet for 4,000 feet. RAX907 was provided radar vectors for the ILS runway 9R approach. After being given a descent to 3,000 feet and a final radar vector to a heading of 060 degrees, the Detroit TRACON controller cleared RAX907 for the ILS runway 9R approach at 1940, and two minutes later directed the pilot to contact PTK tower.

At 1942, RAX907 checked in with the PTK air traffic control tower and was issued a landing clearance to runway 9R following a Challenger on a 2-mile final. RAX907 was issued an RVR of 2,000 feet for runway 9R. RAX907 acknowledged the landing clearance and advised they were looking for the traffic. The controller issued the surface wind. There were no further communications between RAX907 and ATC.

The captain of the Challenger stated in part:

"Weather was reported 2,000 [feet] RVR and vertical visibility 200 [feet]. There was no icing, turbulence or wind shear during the approach only light rain. Intercepting the localizer we had a 42 knot wind out of the south that required at least a 20 degree crab angle. Proceeding down the glide slope the winds diminished gradually and our crab angle was approximately 5 degrees at 300 feet. I called approach lights (MALSR) in sight at 100 feet above minimums and observed them at the 1130 position relative to our nose. At minimums I called runway in sight and we landed. The approach was flown with the autopilot on until minimums. I did not know of the accident until ground control announced the airport was closed while we were exiting the taxiway…" PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe pilot, age 32, held a commercial pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land, airplane multiengine land, and instrument airplane ratings. Prior to November 26, 2013, he accumulated a total flight time of approximately 1,907.8 hours, of which 422.3 hours were in multiengine airplanes, 74.7 hours were in actual meteorological conditions, and 109.4 hours were at night.

He was employed by Royal Air Freight, Inc., as a Cessna 310 pilot after passing his Part 135 airman checkride on December 19, 2014. After the checkride, all of the flights he had flown were in Royal Air Freight, Inc. Cessna 310R airplanes, over four trips/days, which had 11 flights totaling about 40.5 hours.

The pilot's logbook showed that during his pilot training for a pilot-in-command position in Cessna 310 airplanes at Royal Air Freight, Inc. he accumulated 7.2 hours of flight time in night conditions, of which 5.4 hours were accumulated in a Cessna 310R during a December 10, 2014 flight that was flown by a Royal Air Freight, Inc. company pilot who was not a company instructor. The remaining 1.8 hours of night flight time was in a Falcon 20 airplane while in the right seat of the airplane. The amount of flight time in actual IMC during his pilot training (0.2 hours were during the checkride) was 6.0 hours, of which 4.3 hours were in Cessna 310R airplanes. Of the 4.3 hours, 3.4 hours were accumulated during the December 10, 2013 trip flown by the company pilot.

There was no record showing that the pilot had flown an instrument approach in a Cessna 310 airplane, in actual night IMC to precision approach weather minimums during his training, checkride, or subsequent flights.

The pilot did not have an FAA record of any previous accidents, incidents, or enforcement actions.

Certificate and Ratings of the Pilot

On March 15, 2005, the pilot was issued a private pilot certificate with a single-engine land rating after passing the examination for the certificate/rating on his first attempt. The total flight time that was reported at the time of examination was 59 hours. He passed the private pilot airplane ai...