# Accident 19970620015219A: Piper PA31310, San Diego, CA, June 20, 1997 - Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: June 20, 1997, 12:31 local time - Place: San Diego, CA - Airport: Brown Field Municipal - Damage: Destroyed - Phase of flight: To Init Climb(1st Pwr Reduct) - Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91) - Location: 32.5500° N, 117.0392° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=32.5500&lon=-117.0392&mi=10 - Aircraft: N266MM, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N266MM-1998-11-05) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry model: Piper PA-31-310 (registry code 7103102, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-31-310) (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: PIPER PA31310 - Reported engine: LYC TIO540* - People aboard: 3 - Fatal injuries: 3 - Pilot flight hours: 10,041 total, 1,586 in this make and model, 73 in the last 90 days - NTSB investigation: [NTSB LAX97FA217](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX97FA217) (OpenAirDocs) - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19970620015219A ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. AIRCRAFT CRASHED SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF. (.4)THE AIRCRAFT CONCLUDED AN AERIAL SURVEY AND LANDED AT BROWN FIELD TO CLEAR U.S. CUSTOMS. ON RESTART, AS THE LEFT ENGINE BEGAN RUNNING, A WITNESS NOTICED TWO SHORT, YELLOW FLAME BURSTS EXIT THE EXHAUST. DURING TAXI, THE WITNESS HEARD A POPPING SOUND COMING FROM THE AIRCRAFT. AS POWER WAS APPLIED TO CROSS RUNWAY 26L, THE SOUND WENT AWAY. THE AIRCRAFT STOPPED FOR A FEW SECONDS PRIOR TO PULLING ONTO THE RUNWAY; THE WITNESS DID NOT OBSERVE OR HEAR A RUN-UP. WITNESSES REPORTED HEARING A SERIES OF POPPING SOUNDS SIMILAR TO AUTOMATIC GUNFIRE AND OBSERVED THE AIRCRAFT BETWEEN 600 AND 1,000 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND WITH WINGS LEVEL AND THE LANDING GEAR UP. THE AIRCRAFT WAS OBSERVED TO MAKE AN ABRUPT, 45-DEGREE BANKED, LEFT TURN AS THE NOSE DIPPED DOWN. WITNESSES REPORTED THE NOSE OF THE AIRCRAFT THEN RAISED UP TOWARD THE HORIZON. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY THE AIRCRAFT TURNING TO THE LEFT AND BECOMING INVERTED IN AN ESTIMATED 30-DEGREE NOSE LOW ATTITUDE. WITH THE NOSE STILL LOW, THE AIRCRAFT CONTINUED AROUND TO AN UPRIGHT POSITION AND APPEARED TO BE IN A SHALLOW RIGHT BANK. WITNESSES THEN LOST SIGHT OF THE AIRCRAF T DUE TO BUILDINGS AND TERRAIN. A MAY 20, 1997, WORK ORDER INDICATED THE LEFT MANIFOLD PRESSURE FLUCTUATED IN FLIGHT. BOTH WASTEGATES WERE LUBRICATED AND A TEST FLIGHT REVEALED THE LEFT ENGINE MANIFOLD PRESSURE LAGGED BEHIND THE RIGHT ENGINE MANIFOLD PRESSURE. ON JUNE 18, 1997, THE LEFT ENGINE DIFFERENTAIL PRESSURE CONTROLLER WAS NOTED TO HAVE BEEN REMOVED AND REPLACED. THIS WAS THE CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR A DISCREPANCY WRITE UP THAT THE LEFT ENGINE MANIFOLD PRESSURE FLUCTUATED UP AND DOWN 2 INHG AND THE RPM VARIED BY 100 IN CRUISE. A TEST FLIGHT THAT AFTERNOON BY THE ACCIDENT PILOT INDICATED THE DISCREPANCY STILL OCCURRED AT CRUISE POWER SETTING, BUT THE ENGINE OPERATED NORMALLY AT HIGH AND LOW POWER SETTINGS. POST ACCIDENT FUNCTIONAL CHECKS WERE PERFORMED ON VARIOUS COMPONENTS. NO DISCREPANCIES WERE NOTED FOR THE LEFT GOVERNOR. THE LEFT ENGINE DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE CONTROLLER WAS DAMAGED AND RESULTS VARIED ON EACH TEST. THE LEFT DENSITY CONTROLLER WAS TOO DAMAGED TO TEST. THE RIGHT ENGINE DENSITY AND DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE CONTROLLERS TESTED SATISFACTORY. THE LEFT AND RIGHT FUEL PUMPS OPERATED WITH IN SPECIFICATIONS. BOTH FUEL SERVOS WERE DAMAGED. ONE INJECTION NOZZLE O N THE LEFT ENGINE WAS PARTIALLY PLUGGED; ALL OTHERS FLOW TESTED WITHIN SPECIDICATIONS. ## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB LAX97FA217](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX97FA217), Jun 20, 1997: Piper PA 31-310 (N266MM), San Diego, CA, destroyed, 3 fatal. Probable cause: The loss of power in the left engine for undetermined reasons and the pilot's subsequent failure to maintain minimum single-engine control airspeed. A contributing factor was the pilot's decision to… From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.