Albany Night Approach Crash Involving Left Propeller Feathering Failure (N7818M)

Incident Overview During a night approach to Albany in marginal weather, the crew experienced technical problems with the left engine propeller cruise lock system. The propeller could not be feathered, causing the aircraft to lose altitude and ultimately crash into two houses located 3.8 miles short of the runway 01 threshold. The aircraft and both houses were destroyed. ## Casualties The accident resulted in the deaths of two crew members, 14 passengers, and one person on the ground. ## Official Findings The investigation identified the inability of the crew to feather the left propeller, combined with the aircraft descending below prescribed minimum altitudes for the approach, as the probable cause. The board was unable to determine why the left propeller could not be feathered or why the propeller pitch lock malfunctioned during the descent. Contributing factors to the nonstandard approach included the captain's preoccupation with the cruise pitch lock malfunction, the first officer's failure to adhere to company altitude awareness procedures, and the captain's failure to delegate meaningful responsibilities to the copilot, resulting in a lack of effective task sharing during the emergency.