What happened
On November 24, 2006, a twin-engine Piper PA34-220T was conducting an IFR flight toward Essen-Mühlheim. After descending from a cruise altitude of 4,800 feet and extending the landing gear, the aircraft was approximately 2 km from the airfield when both engines failed in rapid succession. The pilot notified air traffic control of an emergency landing requirement.
While attempting an emergency descent, the aircraft entered the A 5 and struck several obstacles before impacting the roadway in the direction of Dortmund. The aircraft came to rest in the path of oncoming traffic, specifically near a large fuel tanker. The impact caused a collision with a small van and a passenger car. The crash resulted in two serious injuries to the passengers and one minor injury to the pilot. The aircraft was destroyed, and two vehicles sustained damage.
The investigation
The BFU investigation examined the aircraft's mechanical state, fuel levels, and the pilot's flight history. Investigators found that the left engine's throttle was set to full power, the ignition was on, the mixture was at full rich, and the fuel selector was on the 'on' position. The right engine's throttle was at idle, with the fuel selector in crossfeed mode.
Physical examination of the wreckage revealed that the impact with a van had torn away the left wing and the left engine. Investigators also analyzed the fuel remaining in the system, finding only approximately 80 ml of fuel. Calculations based on flight logs and the 110 liters of fuel added at Berlin-Tempelhof indicated that the total available fuel was approximately 576 liters, which was insufficient for the total flight and block time of over five and a half hours, given an estimated consumption of 100 liters per hour.