20020608013529A

(-23) DPE in nogalas, ax refused to fly in a/c due to l/h eng. Not developing full power. He advised the 3 pilots on board not to fly. They chose to fly anyway and crashed & burned shortly after take-off. See attached witness statement. (.19) on June 8, 2002, about 1405 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-23-160, N4302P, crashed under unknown circumstances in rio rico, Arizona, about 3 miles west of the Nogales international airport (ols), Nogales, Arizona. The airplane was operated by accelerated flight crew training (afct) of chandler Arizona, and rented by the pilot for a certified flight instructor (CFI) check ride, under the provisions of 14 CFR part 91. The airplane was destroyed. A CFI, a commercial multi-engine pilot (CFI applicant), and a private multi-engine pilot were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross-country flight that departed ols about 1355. The flight originated at the stellar airpark airport (P19), chandler, Arizona, about 0930 the day of the accident. The flight was scheduled to terminate at P19. According to the designated examiner (de) the accident airplane arri ved at ols about 1050 for a practical test for a flight instructor airplane multi-engine. During start-up the de noted that the left engine did not develop "sufficient power." Continuation of the flight was cancelled due to mechanical reasons. When they arrived back at the terminal, the de informed the CFI that there was a mechanical problem and he felt that the airplane should not be flown. During lunch the CFI received a call from maintenance, which she took outside. The CFI spoke with maintenance personnel from afct. Both the CFI and the mechanic concluded that it was ultimately up to her whether or not to fly the airplane back to home base, but the flight could be done safely. The de reported that he went to his office for about five minutes, when he returned to the lobby he saw the airplane taxiing to the runway. He noticed that the CFI was sitting in the middle row of seats, and the CFI applicant (right seat) and private pilot (left seat) were sitting in the front. The de observed the takeoff and noted that the airplane yawed to the left and re-centered on the runway three times, and then it proceeded to accelerate slowly. The airplane "abruptly" pitched up about 3300 feet down the runway, and the landing gear was retracted. The airplane began to settle toward the runway, the nose pitched level, and the airplane accelerated and began "a slow climb." The de indicated that the airplane sounded normal, and it proceeded upwind where it continued to accelerate and climb. Witnesses at the accident location reported that they did not hear an engine sound, but did see both propellers moving. They saw the airplane veer to the left to avoid a residence, contact the ground, and cartwheel before coming to rest. The accident site was located a remote rural residential area. The area was indicative of flat desert terrain with loose rocks, small trees, and scrub brush. External examination of both engines revealed that the accessory side of the engine had burned in the post-impact fire. The top spark plugs were removed from both engines and displayed coloration consistent with oil and carbon fouling. The cylinder combustion chambers were inspected utilizing a lighted boroscope with no discrepancies found. Mechanical continuity was established throughout both engines via manual rotation of the propeller. Crankshaft rotation produced thumb compression in each cylind er in proper firing order, with accessory gear and valve train continuity established in both engines. Both the left and right propeller blades exhibited s-bending, leading and trailing edge gouging, and chordwise scratching. One of the right propeller blade tips separated from the propeller blade.