N2363B

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn November 10, 2017, about 1120 central standard time, a Temco GC 1B airplane, N2363B, was substantially damaged when it impacted trees and terrain while maneuvering north of Pineville Municipal Airport (2L0), Pineville, Louisiana. The airline transport pilot was fatally injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight plan was filed for the flight. The cross-country flight departed Lake Water Wheel Airport (XS99), Shepherd, Texas, about 1000.

According to a friend of the pilot, the pilot had purchased the airplane in the spring of 2017. The pilot was an airframe and powerplant mechanic with an inspection authorization and had traveled between Texas and New York several times before the accident to conduct maintenance on the airplane. The pilot was relocating the airplane to New York, where he lived, on the day of the accident.

There were no fuel receipts available for the time before the accident. One witness observed the pilot and the previous owner carrying 5-gallon containers of fuel to the accident airplane; however, investigators were unable to determine how much fuel was on board at the time of departure from XS99.

According to an employee with the fixed base operator at 2L0, the pilot called on the airport UNICOM frequency and asked for verification that the landing gear were down and locked. The airplane was observed to fly from south to north over the airport and at the north end of the airport, the airplane pitched up and turned to the right. The employee confirmed, over the UNICOM frequency, that the landing gear appeared to be down, but the pilot did not respond.

Another witness saw the airplane start to climb and initiate a right turn between 250 and 300 ft above ground level. As the airplane turned, the tail of the airplane "wobbled," then the nose of the airplane pitched down, and the airplane descended below the tree line. The witness heard a loss of engine power just before the wobble and observed exaggerated rudder movements after the loss of power. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe pilot held type certificates for the Boeing 727 and the North American Sabreliner.

At the time of his medical certificate application, the pilot estimated his total flight time as 5,000 hours; 15 hours of which were logged in the previous 6 months. The certificate contained the limitation "Must wear corrective lenses for near and distant vision."

The pilot's family provided a scanned copy of several pages from the pilot's flight logbook; with entries dated between August 8, 2015, and October 26, 2017. A review of the logbook indicated that the pilot had logged no less than 2,102.2 hours. In 2015 the pilot had logged 12.5 hours in the make and model of the accident airplane. He did not have any logged flight time, in the make and model of the accident airplane, within the 6 months before the accident. AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONThe airplane was manufactured and issued the original airworthiness certificate in 1948 under the Civil Air Regulations Part 4a. Neither a Pilot Operating Handbook nor an Airplane Flight Manual were required; and therefore, performance-specific data such as fuel consumption was not available. In addition, the FAA major repair and alteration records available for the airplane indicated the airplane had been modified multiple times to include a powerplant change and landing gear changes.

According to the weight and balance document located in the wreckage and dated January 8, 2003, the airplane could hold 215.7 lbs or 35.95 gallons of fuel, with the most aft center of gravity loading. The datasheet for the engine provided a fuel consumption range of 8.5 to 11 gallons per hour. If the fuel tanks were full, the airplane had a range between 3 and 4 hours depending on the fuel/air mixture settings controlled by a pilot in flight.

Fuel System

The airplane was equipped with an aftermarket auxiliary fuel tank system; one tank in each wing. The fuel lines ran from each respective fuel tank inboard to the fuel selector valve. The airplane was equipped with a two-part main tank. The main tank fed through 1 ¼ inch tubing into a header tank and then to the fuel selector valve. The routing then continued to the gascolator, to the fuel pump, and then toward the engine.

Each auxiliary tank was equipped with a copper vent line that ran through the length of the fuel tank. One end of the copper vent line was mechanically occluded. The fuel tank cap on the left auxiliary fuel tank was a vented cap. The vent on the outside of the cap was occluded with dirt. The fuel tank cap on the right auxiliary fuel tank was not a vented cap. Neither auxiliary tank was equipped with a fuel pickup line inside of the tank, and the fuel lines were mounted about ½ to ¾ inch up from the bottom of the tank.

According to major repair and alteration records and the maintenance records for the airplane, auxiliary fuel tanks were installed in January of 2008 under supplemental type certificate (STC) No. SA255SO. The airplane had flown 4.42 hours since the auxiliary fuel tanks were installed in the airplane.

According to a conversation with the holder for the STC, Merlyn Products, Inc., the airplane's previous owner had contacted the company in 2003 and stated that he had two auxiliary fuel tanks that did not have STC paperwork and he wanted to purchase the paperwork to indicate that they were approved for use in his airplane. Merlyn Products did not provide him this paperwork as the fuel tanks were not manufactured by Merlyn Products, Inc. One other company manufactured a single-tank auxiliary fuel tank for the Temco; this tank was mounted in the center fuselage of the airplane. Investigators were not able to determine where the fuel tanks were manufactured.

Investigators were unable to reach the previous owner or mechanic regarding the installation of the auxiliary tanks. Investigators were not able to determine if there were any fuel flow issues, known by the previous owner, once the new tanks were installed. AIRPORT INFORMATIONThe airplane was manufactured and issued the original airworthiness certificate in 1948 under the Civil Air Regulations Part 4a. Neither a Pilot Operating Handbook nor an Airplane Flight Manual were required; and therefore, performance-specific data such as fuel consumption was not available. In addition, the FAA major repair and alteration records available for the airplane indicated the airplane had been modified multiple times to include a powerplant change and landing gear changes.

According to the weight and balance document located in the wreckage and dated January 8, 2003, the airplane could hold 215.7 lbs or 35.95 gallons of fuel, with the most aft center of gravity loading. The datasheet for the engine provided a fuel consumption range of 8.5 to 11 gallons per hour. If the fuel tanks were full, the airplane had a range between 3 and 4 hours depending on the fuel/air mixture settings controlled by a pilot in flight.

Fuel System

The airplane was equipped with an aftermarket auxiliary fuel tank system; one tank in each wing. The fuel lines ran from each respective fuel tank inboard to the fuel selector valve. The airplane was equipped with a two-part main tank. The main tank fed through 1 ¼ inch tubing into a header tank and then to the fuel selector valve. The routing then continued to the gascolator, to the fuel pump, and then toward the engine.

Each auxiliary tank was equipped with a copper vent line that ran through the length of the fuel tank. One end of the copper vent line was mechanically occluded. The fuel tank cap on the left auxiliary fuel tank was a vented cap. The vent on the outside of the cap was occluded with dirt. The fuel tank cap on the right auxiliary fuel tank was not a vented cap. Neither auxiliary tank was equipped with a fuel pickup line inside of the tank, and the fuel lines were mounted about ½ to ¾ inch up from the bottom of the tank.

According to major repair and alteration records and the maintenance records for the airplane, auxiliary fuel tanks were installed in January of 2008 under supplemental type certificate (STC) No. SA255SO. The airplane had flown 4.42 hours since the auxiliary fuel tanks were installed in the airplane.

According to a conversation with the holder for the STC, Merlyn Products, Inc., the airplane's previous owner had contacted the company in 2003 and stated that he had two auxiliary fuel tanks that did not have STC paperwork and he wanted to purchase the paperwork to indicate that they were approved for use in his airplane. Merlyn Products did not provide him this paperwork as the fuel tanks were not manufactured by Merlyn Products, Inc. One other company manufactured a single-tank auxiliary fuel tank for the Temco; this tank was mounted in the center fuselage of the airplane. Investigators were not able to determine where the fuel tanks were manufactured.

Investigators were unable to reach the previous owner or mechanic regarding the installation of the auxiliary tanks. Investigators were not able to determine if there were any fuel flow issues, known by the previous owner, once the new tanks were installed. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATIONThe accident site was located in heavily forested terrain about 0.4 mile northeast of the departure end of runway 36. The accident site was at an elevation of 125 ft mean sea level and the main wreckage came to rest inverted on a heading of 60°.

The main wreckage included the inboard sections of the left and right wings, the fuselage, the left elevator, the horizontal stabilizer, the rudder, the vertical stabilizer, and the engine and propeller assembly. The engine and fuselage forward of the seats separated from the aft section of the fuselage and came to rest inverted behind the empennage. The outboard section of the left wing was fou...