History of Flight
On June 2, 2018, about 1433 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-31-350, registration N41173, was destroyed when it struck the Atlantic Ocean near Amagansett, New York. The commercial pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was privately owned by the pilot and operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Marginal visual meteorological conditions existed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Newport State Airport (UUU), Newport, Rhode Island, with a destination of East Hampton Airport (HTO), East Hampton, New York.
The accident airplane was one of two aircraft that had flown from HTO to UUU. The pilot of the second airplane, a Beech Bonanza, reported that he and the accident pilot discussed weather along the route for about an hour before departing for the return flight to HTO. Both planned to fly south toward Block Island, Rhode Island, then turn west and follow the Long Island shoreline to HTO. They checked weather online, and visual flight rules (VFR) conditions existed to the destination. The Bonanza departed first, followed by the accident airplane. After takeoff, the Bonanza pilot contacted air traffic control (ATC) and was informed of a thunderstorm near HTO moving slowly. The Bonanza pilot did not hear the accident pilot on the ATC frequency en route, and upon contacting the tower controller at HTO, he could hear the controller attempting to contact the accident airplane. The Bonanza landed uneventfully at HTO.
Radar data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) showed that about 1430, the accident airplane was 5 miles ahead of the Bonanza over the Atlantic Ocean south of HTO at an altitude of 432 ft mean sea level (msl), about 6 miles from the airport. The target climbed to 512 ft, then descended to 152 ft. The last radar return at 1433 indicated 532 ft about 2 miles south of Indian Wells Beach. The pilot told ATC at HTO that he was flying at 700 ft and was "coming in below" the thunderstorm. The airplane was about 5 miles from HTO at that time. No further communications occurred.
Personnel Information
The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, multi-engine land, and instrument airplane, as well as a flight instructor certificate. His most recent FAA second-class medical certificate was issued May 30, 2017. At that time, the pilot reported 3,000 total hours of flight experience. His logbooks were not recovered, so recent flight experience and instrument flight experience could not be determined.
Aircraft Information
The seven-seat, low-wing airplane was manufactured in 1984. It was powered by two Lycoming TIO-540-J2B, 350-horsepower engines equipped with four-bladed Hartzell propellers. It had a Garmin MX20 MFD and a Garmin 530 GPS, both capable of displaying weather information. The most recent annual inspection was completed on November 3, 2017. At the time of the accident, total airframe time was 5776.6 hours. The left engine had 359.5 hours since major overhaul, and the right engine had 535.7 hours since major overhaul. The airplane had flown 39 hours since the annual inspection.
Meteorological Information
At 1435, weather recorded at HTO included calm wind, 7 miles visibility in light thunderstorm rain showers, scattered clouds at 1,300 ft and 2,100 ft, overcast ceiling at 2,600 ft, temperature 22°C, dew point 20°C, and an altimeter setting of 29.76 inches of mercury.
Two inflight weather advisories were issued for the route and destination area about 42 and 15 minutes before the accident flight departed, respectively, warning of heavy to extreme precipitation associated with thunderstorms. There was no record of a weather briefing provided to the accident pilot.
Weather radar revealed a low-pressure system associated with a frontal wave over Long Island Sound, with a cold front stretching westward over Long Island into central New Jersey and a warm front turning back to a cold front eastward. Models indicated scattered thunderstorms over the area of HTO. The airplane's flight track entered the leading edge of echoes with a maximum of 53 dBZ "extreme" intensity echoes with tops near 48,000 ft. Extreme intensity echoes over 50 dBZ extended between the accident site and HTO.
A local resident about 1/2 mile from the accident site photographed the approaching thunderstorm, documenting a shelf cloud and cumulus mammatus clouds along the leading edge, indicative of potential severe turbulence.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The wreckage was located about 1 mile south of Indian Wells Beach in 50 ft of water and was recovered for examination. The fuselage was impact-damaged, fractured, and separated into multiple pieces. The left and right wings were separated from the fuselage at the wing root and were fragmented. One left wing fuel cell was recovered.
The left and right engines remained partially attached to the airframe through the mounts. The oil sump was fractured and corroded on both engines. The No. 1 cylinders were impact-damaged on both engines. Spark plugs were removed, and the engines were rotated by turning the propeller flange. Continuity to the rear gears and valve train was confirmed on each engine. Thumb compression and suction were confirmed for each cylinder. Pistons, valves, and cylinders were examined with a lighted borescope; no anomalies were noted except corrosion and sand consistent with saltwater immersion.
Both left and right propellers were fractured from their respective engine crankshaft mounting flanges and exhibited corrosion consistent with saltwater immersion. Both propeller spinner domes were torn from the assemblies and not recovered. All four blades of each propeller were bent aft in varying degrees and twisted toward low pitch.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy was performed on the pilot by the Office of the Medical Examiner, Suffolk County, New York. The cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma. Forensic toxicology was not performed because the body was recovered from the ocean about 2 days after the accident.