Accident Details
On December 30, 2024, at approximately 1515 eastern standard time, a Cessna 310D, registration N6979T, was substantially damaged when it crashed near Peebles, Ohio. The commercial pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was being operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 ferry flight from Branch County Memorial Airport (OEB), Coldwater, Michigan, to Alexander Salamon Airport (AMT), West Union, Ohio.
According to the airplane's owner, the aircraft had been purchased in October and did not have a current annual inspection; a ferry permit had been issued. The pilot planned to fly with the landing gear down for the entire flight. Prior to departure, a fueler at OEB added 57.5 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel in the pilot's presence. The fueler reported adding approximately 17 gallons to the left main wingtip tank, noting that the tank could only hold half its capacity due to a leak. He then added about 13 gallons to the left auxiliary tank, which filled it, and added approximately 27 gallons to the right main wingtip tank, filling it. He did not fill the right auxiliary tank because its fuel bladder had a leak.
A second pilot, who planned to follow the accident airplane and pick up the pilot after the ferry flight, observed the accident airplane depart OEB around 1330. He departed shortly after and communicated with the accident pilot about five times during the flight, with the accident pilot reporting normal operation. The last communication occurred when the accident pilot stated he was about 20–30 miles from the destination and would begin descending. Upon arriving at AMT, the second pilot did not see the accident airplane. After waiting 20–30 minutes, he retraced the flight path and located the accident site after about 40 minutes of searching.
Witness Account
A witness living adjacent to the accident location reported hearing the airplane while in his shop. He stepped outside and saw the airplane directly overhead, estimating its size at about 2 inches from his vantage point. He described the engines as “cutting out.” The airplane initially turned toward him, then turned southwest. When it was over the flat top of a hill (the accident site), both engines “quit” and the airplane “went straight down.” The witness lost sight of it before it contacted trees and terrain but heard the airplane “whistling through the air” until impact.
Wreckage Examination
The accident site was on a steep hill at 880 ft elevation, situated between trees along a grass pathway. The fuselage came to rest nose-down, oriented along a 300° magnetic heading. Both wings exhibited significant aft compression damage to the leading edges. Fuel staining was present on the bottom of the left wing, outboard of the engine nacelle. The left wing was displaced aft about 3 ft at the remaining wing tip, and the right wing was displaced forward about 2 ft. The left engine remained attached but was imbedded into terrain at a 30° angle; its two-blade propeller was buried about 3 ft. The right engine mount was broken away from the wing structure, and the engine was imbedded at a near 90° angle; its propeller was buried 4 ft. The right propeller blades were bent aft without s-bending, chordwise scratching, or leading edge gouging. The left propeller had one blade bent aft and the other missing its tip. The empennage was lodged between trees and displaced left. Cockpit instrumentation was mostly destroyed. The wreckage was retained for further examination.