CHI00FA234

A witness traveling south on Kansas State Highway 14 from Beloit, Kansas, said he saw the airplane "flying very low, north of the highway, like the pilot was trying to land. The plane then rose rapidly when it got close to the highway, as if to rise above the power lines. The plane made an abrupt dive and crashed into a field at a sharp angle." Airplane records showed the pilot's last flight in the airplane was on May 1, 1999. Federal Aviation Administration medical records indicated the pilot's last medical certificate was issued on August 31, 1994. An examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies.

History of flight

On August 2, 2000, at 0932 central daylight time (cdt), a Piper PA-28R-201, N2732Q, operated by a private pilot, was destroyed when it impacted the terrain, 6 miles north of Beloit, Kansas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. There was no flight plan on file. The pilot sustained fatal injuries. The local flight originated at Beloit, Kansas.

A witness, who worked at the Beloit Airport, said he arrived at the airport at 0645 cdt. The pilot's hanger was open and the airplane was gone. The witness said that at approximately 0815 cdt, he heard the airplane approaching the airport. The witness said he saw the airplane approach from the northeast and then turn south bound. He estimated the airplane was at 2,000 to 3,000 feet agl. "The airplane made a left turn over the town and then flew straight north. He crossed Highway 24 at the Super Eight [hotel], turned left and went west. About 1 to 2 miles west of the runway, he turned northwest toward the Cawker City. That was the last I saw of him."

A witness traveling south on Kansas State Highway 14 from Beloit, said at approximately 0930 cdt, he saw the airplane "flying very low, north of the highway, like the pilot was trying to land. The plane then rose rapidly when it got close to the highway, as if to rise above the power lines. The plane made an abrupt dive and crashed into a field at a sharp angle."

Personnel information

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a single-engine land airplane rating.

According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aeromedical records, at the pilot's last flight physical examination on August 31, 1994, the pilot reported having logged 450 hours.

An airplane logbook which kept a record on all of the flight activity in the airplane, showed that the last flight the pilot made in N2732Q was on May 1, 1999. The logbook showed the pilot took off from Beloit, flew to Topeka, Kansas, and then flew back to Beloit, logging 2.1 flying hours.

A witness, who knew the pilot, said that he had flown with the pilot in N2732Q approximately one year earlier. The witness said that he (the witness) did all of the flying during that flight. The witness said that the pilot told him that he had "300 to 400 total flying hours." The witness said that he had been operating out of the Beloit Airport since the middle of March, 2000. The witness said in the time, from March, 2000, to the accident, he never saw the pilot fly the airplane.

The last flight physical examination record on the pilot was reported to have occurred on August 31, 1994. At that time, the pilot was issued a second class medical certificate with restrictions stating the "holder shall wear corrective lenses while exercising the privileges of his airman certificate for distance vision."

Aircraft information

The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot's father's industrial company. The airplane was used for business and for pleasure.

The airplane underwent an annual inspection on May 5, 2000. According to the airframe logbooks, the airplane's total time, at the annual inspection, taken from the tachometer, was 3,125.01 hours.

The last flight recorded in an airplane logbook which kept a record on all of the flight activity in the airplane, showed a flight on August 1, 2000, from Beloit to Smith Center, Kansas. The time recorded for the flight was 1.4 hours. The total time recorded at the end of the August 1, 2000, flight was 3,150.4 hours.

The airplane's tachometer read 3,152.90 hours, at the time of the accident.

Meteorological information

At 0953 cdt, the weather surface observation for the Salina Municipal Airport, Salina, Kansas, 56 miles southeast of the accident site, was clear skies, 10 miles visibility, temperature 79 degrees F, dew point 62 degrees F, winds 210 degrees at 8 knots, and an altimeter setting of 30.01 inches of Mercury.

Wreckage and impact information

The National Transportation Safety Board on-scene investigation began on August 3, 2000, at 0630 cdt.

The accident site was located 270 feet south of an east-to-west running section of Kansas State Highway 14, a predominately north-south running two-lane, paved highway. The highway section succeeded a curve in the road which began 6 miles north of the town of Beloit, Kansas.

The accident site began with an 8-foot long (north-to-south), 26- foot wide (east-to-west), ground scar which resembled the silhouette of an airplane. The silhouette was oriented on a 175 degree magnetic heading. The ground scar was 10 inches at its deepest point at the center, near the north edge. Several pieces of the airplane's bottom fuselage and two seat rails were embedded 20 inches deep in the ground, at the center of the ground scar. The left main landing gear door was located approximately 5 feet east of the embedded seat rails. The right main landing gear door was located 6 feet west and slightly south of the embedded seat rails. A dirt spray pattern extended south from the south edge of the ground scar along a 175 degree magnetic heading, for approximately 14 feet.

A debris field, containing pieces of fiberglass, clear Plexiglas, and aluminum fanned outward from the south edge of the ground scar in a 70-degree cone, for approximately 70 feet.

One of the airplane's two propeller blades (to be referred to as Blade "A") was located 16 feet from the south edge of the ground scar on a 175 degree magnetic heading. The blade was broken out at the hub and showed slight torsional bending and chordwise scratches near the front propeller tip. The back of the blade showed numerous longitudinally running scratches running from the hub to the blade tip.

A 12-inch piece of the trailing edge of the airplane's right wing tip was located 24 feet from the south edge of the ground scar on a 210 degree magnetic heading. The tip piece was broken laterally and longitudinally along the rivet line.

A second ground scar was located 41 feet south of the first ground scar. It was 10 feet long (north-to-south), 5 feet wide, and 12 inches at its deepest point. The ground scar was oriented on a 172 degree magnetic heading. A folded piece of carpet was found resting at the center of the second ground scar.

The top of the airplane's cowling was located 58 feet from the south edge of the first ground scar on a 178 degree magnetic heading. The cowling was broken open and crushed aft.

The airplane's main wreckage was located 70 feet south of the first ground scar on a 175 degree magnetic heading. The main wreckage was resting upright and was oriented on a 137 degree magnetic heading. The main wreckage consisted of the engine, remainder of the propeller, the cabin section, the left and right wings, the fuselage, and the empennage.

The airplane's lower cowling was broken out and shattered. The engine was bent left and downward, and was twisted approximately 70 degrees counter-clockwise. The airplane's spinner was crushed inward and aft on one side. The propeller hub was broken. Propeller blade B showed torsional bending, and longitudinally- running and chordwise-running scratches.

The left and right windscreen panes were broken out. The firewall and engine mounts were bent and broken downward to the left and aft. The instrument panel was crushed downward and aft.

The front cabin floor was crushed upward and aft. The left front cabin wall was crushed aft and inward. The left front and rear windows were broken out. The right side cabin door was buckled outward and bent aft. The door window was broken out. The remaining right side cabin wall and baggage door were bent aft and buckled outward. The aft cabin floor and baggage compartment floor were crushed upward and aft. Crush angle measurements taken from the fuselage showed a 57-degree down-