NTSB Factual Report

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On May 31, 2004, at 1056 Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-28R-180, N7626J, collided with level terrain following a loss of engine power after takeoff from runway 17 at Columbia Airport (O22), Columbia, California. The pilot/owner operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. The airplane was destroyed in the post impact fire. The private pilot/owner (seated in the right seat) and the commercial pilot (seated in the left seat) sustained fatal injuries. The cross-country flight originated from the Minden-Tahoe Airport (MEV) at 0900, and stopped at O22 before departing for the return flight to MEV about 1050. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.

Several witnesses located at various locations on the airport heard the accident airplane's engine "missing, sputtering, and backfiring" during the takeoff roll. One witness reported that during the engine run up, he did not hear the engine "make full rpm," like other airplanes that he had heard on previous occasions. He watched the airplane taxi onto the runway and begin its takeoff roll. The airplane did not "make much speed," and he could hear it backfire after it traveled about 100 feet down the runway. The witness stated that the airplane continued down the runway and the engine backfired again. He lost sight of it as it passed a small knoll and he expected to see the airplane get airborne. A few minutes later he saw smoke at the south end of the runway.

Another witness reported hearing a rough sounding engine. When he turned toward the runway he heard the engine "popping" and saw the accident airplane in ground effect. The engine sound "ran better for a few seconds (no popping)," and the airplane climbed out of ground effect. He heard the engine start to pop again and the airplane started to sink. He reported that the airplane was about 10 feet above ground level (agl) when the right wing dipped and he saw a cloud of dirt rising in the air. He arrived on scene about 3 minutes later and reported that the airplane was fully engulfed in flames.

An additional witness on the airport reported that his attention was drawn to the runway by a "snap" and "pop." When he looked toward the noise, he saw the accident airplane about midfield. It sounded to him as if the engine were running lean. The airplane lifted off the ground and appeared to climb out slowly. He then heard the engine "snap" and "pop" again, which occurred a couple of times with about 2 to 3 seconds between each cycle. The abnormal engine sounds stopped, and the airplane climbed for an additional 5 seconds before the nose pitched up about 10 degrees. The witness then reported that the airplane developed a high sink rate with an increasing nose up pitch attitude. The airplane remained in a nose high, wings level attitude; however, right before it dropped behind a tree line he saw the wings wobble slightly, and estimated the airplane traveled about 3/4 down the runway where it reached its highest altitude of 50 feet above the ground.

A witness near the accident site stated that he was in his backyard and heard the accident airplane's engine sputter and then it "kicked in." The engine sputtered again followed by "complete silence." When he looked up, he saw the airplane impact the hill.

All of the witnesses reported that there was no fire or smoke emanating from the airplane prior to it impacting the hill. After the airplane impacted the hill, they saw fire and black smoke. The witnesses were not able to say which pilot was flying the airplane during the accident flight. They did recall hearing a male making radio calls when the airplane arrived at the airport, but did not recall who was making radio calls when the airplane departed on the accident flight.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

Pilot/Owner (Right Seat)

A review of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airman records revealed that the pilot/owner held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single engine land.

The pilot held a third-class medical certificate that was issued on May 05, 2004. It had limitation that the pilot must wear corrective lenses. The pilot reported a total flight time of 500 hours on his most recent FAA medical application.

No personal flight records for the pilot were made available to the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (IIC).

Commercial Pilot (Left Seat)

A review of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airman records revealed that the pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single engine land, multiengine land, and instrument airplane.

The pilot held a first-class medical certificate that was issued on February 23, 2004. It had no limitations or waivers. The pilot reported a total flight time of 325 hours on her most recent FAA medical application.

No personal flight records for the pilot were made available to the Safety Board IIC.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The airplane was a 1968 Piper PA-28R-180, serial number 28R31007. Flashback Aviation, Minden, Nevada, had been maintaining the airplane since 1999. A review of the logbooks reported the last recorded annual inspection took place on December 1, 2003, with a recorded tachometer time of 5,756.0 hours. On May 6, 2004, Chaparral Avionics, Inc., Minden, inspected the transponder and altimeter, encoder, and static systems, and recorded the tachometer time as 5,783.37 hours. On the day of the accident, the tachometer was recorded as 5,784.71 hours.

The airplane had a Textron Lycoming IO-360-B1E engine, serial number L-5735-51A, installed. Total time for the engine recorded on the day of the accident was 5,784.1 hours. The engine had been overhauled in May of 1988, with a recorded time since major overhaul as 1,192.5 hours on November 11, 2002.

Fueling records at Soar-Minden established that the airplane was last fueled on May 30, 2004, with the addition of 11.40 gallons of 100 LL aviation fuel. Soar-Minden personnel indicated that the fuel was "topped off," and reached the tabs. They also serviced the tires with air prior to departure from MEV. There were no unresolved maintenance discrepancies against the airplane prior to departure.

METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS

The closest official weather observation station was the Columbia Airport (O22), Columbia, which was located 0.25 nautical miles (nm) north of the accident site. The elevation of the weather observation station was 2,118 feet mean sea level (msl). A routine aviation weather report (METAR) for O22 issued at 1800, reported visibilities as 10 statute miles with clear skies; winds from 180 degrees at 3 knots; temperature 27 degrees Celsius; dew point 8 degrees Celsius; altimeter 30.22 InHg.

AIRPORT INFORMATION

The Airport/ Facility Directory, Southwest U. S., indicated that runway 17 at O22 was 4,670 feet long and 75 feet wide. The runway surface was composed of asphalt.

WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION

Investigators from the Safety Board, the FAA, New Piper Aircraft, Inc., and Textron Lycoming examined the wreckage at the accident scene.

The accident area was in the central Sierra gold country. The airplane impacted a flat area on top of a hill about 1/4 mile from the departure end of runway 17. The debris path was along a magnetic bearing of 196 degrees. The wreckage came to rest on a magnetic heading of 248 degrees, and at global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of 38 degrees 01.267 minutes north latitude and 120 degrees 24.926 minutes west longitude. The elevation was 2,096 feet.

The airplane came to rest in an upright attitude. A ground scar, recorded as the first identified point of contact (FIPC), was 35 feet east of the main wreckage and measured 15 feet in length. A second ground scar to the left of the FIPC measured 10 feet in length. A third ground scar to the left of the second ground scar was also measured as 10 feet in length. The distance between the FIPC and the third ground scar was measured as 12 feet in width. According to the Piper representative the distance between the main landing gear is 10.8 feet.

The left wing root/fuel tank area had a semicircular impression and had been compromised. Next to the left fuel tank was a rock outcropping. The right wing fuel tank was not damaged. The post impact fire destroyed the cabin area of the airplane.

The Safety Board IIC established flight control continuity from the cockpit to all flight control surfaces. Both wings had no leading edge damage. The seat bottoms remained attached to the seat rails, with no deformation of the frames noted. There was no damage to the tail section.

The engine remained intact and attached to the engine mounts and firewall. There was no obvious external evidence of a catastrophic failure noted with the engine. The propeller, propeller hub, and crankshaft flange (propeller assembly) came to rest 45 feet west of the main wreckage. There was S-bending midspan of both propeller blades. Near the tip area of one propeller blade was chordwise scratching. The other blade had a leading edge gouge with no chordwise scratching.

During the salvage of the airplane, recovery personnel recovered fuel from the right wing.

MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION

Pilot/Owner (Right Seat)

The Tuolumne County Coroner conducted an autopsy on the pilot/owner on June 1, 2004. The cause of death was listed as asphyxia due to inhalation of smoke and fumes, due to an airplane accident.

The FAA Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, performed a toxicological analysis from samples obtained from the pilot during the autopsy. The results of analysis of the specimens were negative for cyanide, volatiles, and tested drugs. A positive result for carbon monoxide was detected in the blood -17 percent.

Commercial Pilot (Left Seat)

The Tuolumne County Coroner conducted an autopsy on the pilot on June 1, 2004. The cause of death was listed as asphyxia due to inhalation of smoke and fumes, due to an airplane accident.

The FAA Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory, Oklahoma City, performed a toxicological analysis from samples obtained from the pilot during the autopsy. The results of analysis of the specimens were negative for cyanide and volatiles. A positive result for carbon monoxide was detected in the blood -19 percent.

The report also contained the following positive results: 0.0017 (ug/ml, ug/g) Tetrahydrocannabinol (Marihuana) detected in blood, 0.0105 (ug/ml, ug/g) Tetrahydrocannabinol Carboxylic Acid (Marihuana) detected in blood, 0.0836 (ug/ml, ug/g) Tetrahydrocannabinol Carboxylic Acid (Marihuana) detected in liver, ephedrine present in blood, ephedrine detected in liver, pseudoephedrine present in blood, pseudoephedrine present in liver.

TESTS AND RESEARCH

The Safety Board IIC, the FAA, New Piper Aircraft, Inc., and Textron Lycoming examined the airplane and engine at Plain Parts, Pleasant Grove, California, on June 1, 2004. The wings were placed on sawhorses, and the main landing gear extended. The down locks were inspected and found to be intact and functional. The nose landing gear down lock was not found; however, the gear door was in the closed position. The flaps were in the retracted position. The elevator trim jackscrew had three threads exposed, which corresponded to a nose-down trim position.

A teardown was conducted on the engine. The magnetos were destroyed in the fire and were not functionally tested. The ignition harness was destroyed in the fire; however, the leads remained secure at the spark plugs. The top and bottom spark plugs were secure at their respective positions. They were removed for further examination and to facilitate an internal visual inspection of the engine. The spark plug electrodes were undamaged and were fire damaged.

The engine was boroscoped with no noted metal contamination of the cylinders. An unsuccessful attempt was made to manually rotate the engine via the accessory drive. The rocker arms were manually moved up and down. The No. 2 cylinder exhaust valve would not move. The No. 2 cylinder was removed and disassembled. There were no discrepancies noted with the exhaust valve, and the push rod was straight. The other three cylinders were removed and a visual inspection of the internal engine was conducted with no discrepancies noted.

The engine accessories were destroyed in the post impact fire. The accessory gears and crankshaft gears, including the dowel pin, were intact. The fuel injection servo was thermally destroyed; however, the throttle and mixture controls were found securely attached to their respective control arms on the servo. The fuel flow divider remained secure at the mounting bracket, with the fuel lines secured at each flow divider fitting and fuel injector for their respective cylinders. The fuel injection nozzles were examined with no obstructions to fuel flow observed. The fuel flow divider was disassembled with no debris noted internally that would have obstructed the fuel flow. The diaphragm was thermally destroyed. The fuel pump was partially consumed by the post-crash fire. The fuel pump mounting flange remained attached to its respective mounting pad. No pre-impact mechanical problems were noted with the engine that would have precluded normal operation.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The IIC released the wreckage to the owner's representative on June 29, 2004.

NTSB Probable Cause

The loss of engine power for undetermined reason during takeoff-initial climb, and the pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed to avoid a stall/mush. Factors associated with the accident are an inadvertent stall/mush, and the pilot's failure to abort the takeoff.