DEN03FA034

History of flight

On January 16, 2003, at 1157 mountain standard time, a Yakovlev YAK 52, N2256J, registered to and operated by Squadron 52 LLC of Park City, Utah, was destroyed when it impacted terrain, exploded, and burned at Midway, Utah. The two airline transport certificated pilots were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The local flight originated at Heber City, Utah, approximately 1100.

According to one of the partners, an owner-pilot and two third-parties arrived at the airport to go flying. The owner-pilot and one of the third-parties boarded the airplane and took off. The other third-party was supposed to fly with the owner-pilot after completion of this flight. The receptionist at Wasatch Aero Services and another pilot who was waiting for take off at the Heber City airport said they heard a voice on the Unicom frequency say, "We're crashing, we're going in," or words to that effect. She said the volume was low and the voice was calm. She said she knew the pilot personally, and was familiar with his voice. She said it was not his voice. Witnesses said they saw the airplane in a vertical or near-vertical attitude just prior to impact, and the engine sounded like it was developing full power. None of the witnesses reported seeing the airplane performing aerobatic maneuvers. The partner said the pilot-in-command was "adamant about using a minimum of 2,500 feet agl for completing any aerobatic maneuvers." The first 9-1-1 call was received by the sheriff's office at 1157.

The accident occurred during the hours of daylight at a location of 40 degrees, 35'48" north latitude, and 111 degrees, 27'18" west longitude.

Personnel information

Both the pilot-in-command and second pilot were former military pilots and retired airline captains.

The pilot-in-command, who was seated in the front seat, held an airline transport pilot certificate for airplanes, multiengine, land; type ratings in the Boeing 757/767, Douglas DC-9, and Cessna 500, and commercial privileges in airplanes, single-engine, land, dated August 17, 1998. He also held a flight engineer certificate with a turbojet rating, dated December 23, 1969. His most recent second class airman medical certificate, dated June 18, 2002, contained the restriction, "Holder shall possess glasses for near and intermediate vision." On his application for medical certification, he reported 19,650 total hours of flight experience. According to American Airlines, his last recurrency check was taken in the Boeing 767 on March 21, 1999. In late May 2002, he took a 3-day flight proficiency course through the Cessna Pilots Association in Santa Monica, California. At the completion of the course, he passed a flight review in his Cessna 210 on June 2, 2002. His partner said he had flown the YAK 52 regularly for the past 8 years.

The second pilot, who was seated in the rear seat, held an airline transport pilot certificate for airplanes, multiengine, land; type ratings in the Boeing 727/757/767/777, Douglas DC-9, and McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 with the restriction, "Circling approaches VMC only," and commercial privileges in airplanes, single-engine, land. It was dated October 28, 2000. He also held a flight engineer certificate with a turbojet rating, dated March 28, 1973. His most recent first class airman medical certificate, dated May 17, 2002, contained the restriction, "Must have glasses for near vision." On his application for medical certification, he reported 23,700 total hours of flight experience. According to American Airlines, his transition qualification was taken in the Boeing 777 on October 28, 2000.

Aircraft information

N2256J (s/n 833709), a YAK 52, was manufactured by Yakolev in 1983, and certificated by FAA in the experimental category in 1995. The single engine, propeller driven, two seat airplane was equipped with a Ivchenko M-14P reciprocating engine, and a 2-blade, wooden, constant-speed propeller (m/n B530TA). The last conditional inspection was performed on August 1, 2002, at a tachometer time of 255.3 hours. Airframe total time was computed to be 840.6 flight hours.

Meteorological information

At 1156, the weather conditions at Salt Lake City, Utah (elevation 4,227 feet), 115 degrees, 28 nautical miles (nm) from the accident site were as follows: wind 150 at 4 knots; visibility 10 sm; cloud condition few at 1,500 feet; temperature 3 degrees Celsius; dew point -6 degrees Celsius; altimeter setting 30.55 inches.

Wreckage and impact information

FAA's Flight Standards District Office in Salt Lake City was asked to conduct the on-scene investigation. Because one of its inspectors had once been a co-owner of the airplane, and to avoid any conflict of interest, the investigation was transferred to FAA's Flight Standards District Office in Boise, Idaho.

According to the Boise inspector, the accident site was in an open field in a residential area of Midway, Utah. The burning wreckage was contained in a large, 4-1/2 foot deep crater. The airplane's wooden propeller was shattered, and the engine had all cylinders broken and bent backwards. The leading edge of both wings showed even crushing from the wing root out to the wing tip. All of the major aircraft components were recovered. Elevator and rudder control continuity were partially established. Both pilots wore parachutes, but there was no evidence that either tried to jump.

NTSB examined the wreckage layout on March 12, 2003. A brass nut was found in the crushed skin of the empennage. The airplane owners identified the nut as part of an air hose. Many of the YAK 52 systems are pneumatically operated (i.e., engine start, flaps/landing gear extension/retraction). Although not normally carried in the airplane, the air hose was usually carried on cross-country trips in the event the air tank developed a leak and there was insufficient pressure to start the engine. The air hose could be attached to an FBO's (fixed base operator) air bottle and the engine could be "jump started." The nut exhibited numerous gouge marks. The nut was placed between the elevator bellcrank and housing. When the bellcrank was moved by hand, full up and down elevator control could not be achieved due to the impeding nut. The gouges on the nut were consistent with elevator bellcrank contact. Scrape marks were also noted on the underside of the bellcrank housing. The owners said the air hose was stored in the FBO community hanger where the airplane was also kept. The last time it was known to have been used was when it was strapped to the rear seat and the airplane was ferried to its last conditional inspection in August 2002, and used to lubricate the pneumatic system seals. It could not be determined how or when the adapter assembly separated from the hose, or how the nut got into the empennage.

Medical and pathological information

The Utah State Medical Examiner's Office performed gross examinations on the two pilots on January 17, 2003. Toxicological tests could not be performed.

Tests and research

There have been several accidents involving the YAK 52 around the world. The first accident occurred in Smolensk, USSR, in 1998. According to the http://www.skytrace.co.uk/ website, the pilot had made "two vertical figures" and was "transitioning from diving to climbing flight." The airplane made a slow right and impacted the ground at an 80-degree angle. The pilot was killed. An investigation revealed a camera lens cap had "jammed in the fastening lever of the elevator balancing load." The camera lens cap had been lost by a cameraman on a previous flight.

According to a United Kingdom YAK importer-distributor (whose company provides YAK 52 flight training and maintenance), there were two similar, but nonfatal, accidents in Lithuania in 2002 (http://www.yakuk.com). The first occurred in Kaunas