History of Flight
On January 2, 2015, about 1755 central standard time, a Piper PA-34-200T, registration N81291, was substantially damaged when it struck trees and terrain during a forced landing near Kuttawa, Kentucky. The commercial pilot and three passengers sustained fatal injuries, and another passenger was seriously injured. Night instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. The flight departed Tallahassee Regional Airport, Florida, around 1500, with an intended destination of Mount Vernon Airport, Illinois.
The flight plan indicated an estimated time en route of 3 hours and 12 minutes and an estimated fuel endurance of 4 hours and 50 minutes. Earlier that day, the pilot flew the same airplane from Key West International Airport to Tallahassee, where the airplane was topped off with 67.7 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel. According to air traffic control records, the pilot contacted Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center at 1750, reporting problems with both engines and requesting vectors to the nearest airport with visual flight rules weather. The controller advised that Kentucky Dam State Park Airport (M34) was 11 miles west. The pilot initially reported having the airport in sight but then lost sight, stated the right engine had stopped producing power, and subsequently reported both engines malfunctioning. Radar contact was lost at 1755 as the airplane descended through 2,700 feet mean sea level about 10 miles east of M34.
Personnel Information
The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for single-engine land, multiengine land, and instrument airplane, as well as a flight instructor certificate for those categories. His most recent third-class medical certificate was issued on February 4, 2014, at which time he reported 2,300 total flight hours, including 50 hours in the preceding 6 months. Personal flight logs were not located, but a flight log found at the accident scene indicated he had flown approximately 14.5 hours in the accident airplane since April 10, 2014, not accounting for the day of the accident. The surviving passenger noted that the accident airplane was not the one typically flown; the pilot primarily operated a PA-31-350. A local mechanic also stated the pilot had flown the accident airplane only a handful of times before the accident.
Aircraft Information
The 1979 Piper PA-34-200T was registered to a corporation and powered by two Continental Motors TSIO-360-series engines, each producing 210 horsepower and equipped with two-bladed Hartzell controllable pitch propellers. The most recent annual inspection was on March 16, 2014, at 7,573.4 total aircraft hours. The airplane had a total fuel capacity of 128 gallons, with 5 gallons unusable. Each wing contained two interconnected fuel tanks filled through a single port. Fuel management was controlled by levers on the center console. During normal operation, the levers were in the ON position. A note in the pilot operating handbook forbade takeoff with a selector in the crossfeed position.
Meteorological Information
No weather briefings were provided by Lockheed-Martin Flight Service, and there was no evidence the pilot obtained a briefing from the online vendor used to file the flight plan. Forecasts indicated instrument flight rules conditions along the entire route, with AIRMET advisories for IFR, icing, and mountain obscuration. The nearest weather reports at 1753 from Barkley Regional Airport, 29 miles west, included an overcast ceiling at 600 feet, 6 statute miles visibility in mist, and a temperature and dew point of 3°C. At 1755, Kyle-Oakley Field Airport reported broken ceilings at 600 feet and 7 miles visibility.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane struck trees in a wooded area about 8 miles east of M34, coming to rest inverted with landing gear retracted. The wreckage path was approximately 300 feet long at an elevation of 480 feet. All fuel tanks were compromised, and a small postcrash fire occurred at the right wing outboard tank. Flight control continuity was confirmed through tensile overload breaks. The cockpit fuel selectors indicated the left engine was in the crossfeed position and the right engine was between ON and OFF; however, the fuel selector valves in the wings showed the left in crossfeed and the right in ON. Examination of the left engine revealed impact damage preventing functional testing, but no preimpact anomalies were found. The right engine started and ran smoothly in a test cell. Both propellers were not feathered and showed similar impact damage, with no preimpact anomalies.
Additional Information
A checklist found at the accident site directed that after engine start, fuel selectors be set to crossfeed, then during run-up to ON. The top of climb/cruise checklist included leaning the mixtures. Performance calculations estimated fuel consumption of about 20 gallons per hour, and the accident flight of 2 hours 55 minutes would have consumed about 60 gallons, including fuel for start, taxi, and takeoff.
The pilot's toxicology tests were negative for carbon monoxide and ethanol but detected citalopram and rosuvastatin. No data from the Apple iPhone 5s was obtained; GPS units recorded the flight, showing the airplane began a descent at 1750 and slowed to about 100 knots before data ceased at 1754 at approximately 700 feet GPS altitude.