Accident Overview
The accident occurred during a dark night departure from a private, unlighted airstrip. The pilot had landed at approximately 1830 using the headlights of a car for illumination. After dropping off a passenger, the pilot departed around 1900. The departure heading was toward a sparsely populated area of rolling hills. Local residents reported hearing an aircraft depart, followed by a loss of engine sound and then an impact in a grape vineyard. Examination of the wreckage indicated that the airplane struck the ground in a nose-down attitude.
Maintenance History
According to maintenance records, the last annual inspection had been conducted approximately 12 months and 299.5 flight hours prior to the accident. About five months before the accident, the FAA Certified Repair Station (CRS) that performed maintenance on the airplane provided the pilot/owner with a list of 15 grounding discrepancies. These included: cracked nose cowling; fraying seat belts; broken left magneto switch; cracked left window; crazed left windshield; inoperative stall warning; inoperative turbine inlet temperature (TIT) indicator; inoperative door latch safety; multiple hydraulic component leaks; worn main gear trunnion pins; several cracks in wing lower skins; fuel leaks; loose rivets on the right flap; loose wing spar bolts; and frayed elevator trim cable. According to the CRS manager, only the cracked nose cowling had been repaired prior to the accident. However, an engine log entry indicated that the TIT gage had also been replaced. Additionally, several witnesses reported that the pilot had been operating the airplane with an inoperative landing gear retract system for about four months.
Investigation Findings
During the post-accident examination, investigators confirmed that many of the listed discrepancies still existed. However, none of these discrepancies could be directly linked to the accident. The wreckage examination did not reveal any mechanical failure that could have caused the loss of control.
Probable Cause
The official probable cause was the pilot/owner/operator's failure to maintain control of the airplane during the takeoff initial climb, resulting in an in-flight collision with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the dark night light condition.