# NTSB DEN99FA081: Piper PA-23E-250, N54263, Tucumcari, NM, May 19, 1999 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Field investigation · Final report - Date: May 19, 1999, 17:25 local (23:25 UTC) - Place: Tucumcari, NM - Coordinates: 35.160625, -103.719314 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=35.1606&lon=-103.7193&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 2 fatal - Status: Completed, report June 22, 2000 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB case key (mKey): 46354 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=DEN99FA081 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/46354/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DEN99FA081 ## Probable cause The pilot's inadvertent stall. A factor was the loss of power of one engine in the twin-engine airplane. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of engine power, cruise - reason for occurrence undetermined (contributing factor) - Loss of control - in flight, approach - vfr pattern - base leg/base to final - stall - inadvertent, pilot in command (cause) - In flight collision with terrain/water, descent - uncontrolled - terrain condition - ground ## Analysis Approximately 5 minutes after taking off, the pilot told air traffic control that his 'left engine was smoking badly,' that he had feathered the propeller, and was returning to land. As the airplane made its approach, the pilot was advised that his landing gear was still retracted. He said he would make a go-around. Witnesses could not recall if an engine had been shut down, but they did say that there was no smoke coming from either engine. They watched the airplane bank left on base leg and descend into the ground. Examination of the propeller governors disclosed the right (not the left) propeller had been feathered. Disassembly and examination of both engines disclosed no mechanical discrepancies or failures. ## Factual narrative HISTORY OF FLIGHT On May 19, 1999, at 1725 mountain daylight time*, a Piper PA-23E-250, N54263, registered to and operated by Staudte Engineering, Inc., was destroyed when it impacted terrain one mile northeast of the Tucumcari Municipal Airport, Tucumcari, New Mexico. The commercial pilot and passenger were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an IFR plan had been filed for the business flight being operated under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Tucumcari at 1714. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) documents, the pilot telephoned the Fort Worth Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) at 1254 central daylight time (cdt), and was given a weather briefing for a proposed IFR flight from Addison, Texas, to Albuquerque, New Mexico. N54263 departed Addison Airport approximately 1330 cdt, and landed at Tucumcari approximately 1600. The airport manager said that as the airplane taxied up to the ramp, he noticed the passenger was sitting in the right seat in the second row. The pilot came into his office and asked how much gasoline $100 would buy. When told that gasoline cost $1.85 per gallon, he "grumbled something about the high cost of gasoline." The airport manager explained that his gasoline was considerably cheaper than gasoline in Albuquerque. He eventually serviced the airplane with 54.0 gallons of fuel: 41.7 gallons were put in the inboard tanks, and 6.3 and 6.0 gallons were put in the right and left outboard tanks, respectively. It is not known how much fuel were in the tip tanks. Total cost was $99.90, and was paid for with a $100 bill. The fuel receipt was stamped 3:41 p.m. The clock on the fuel pump was set to mountain standard time. (In a later telephone conversation, the pilot's wife said that this transaction was extremely unusual because her husband never carried cash, preferring to use a credit card to make purchases). The airport manager said that as the airplane taxied out for takeoff, he noticed the passenger was in the same seat he was sitting in when they arrived. (In that same telephone conversation noted earlier, the pilot's wife said the passenger often sat in the back where he had more room to work and relax). At 1714:41, the pilot contacted Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) and advised that he had just departed Tucumcari, was on V (victor airway) 12 at 6,200 feet msl (above mean sea level). He was then issued his IFR clearance to Albuquerque. At 1717:15, the pilot advised ARTCC that the "left engine was smoking very badly." He said he had feathered the propeller and was returning to Tucumcari. The controller noted this report on the flight progress strip (copy attached). The pilot said he was having "no problem maintaining altitude." At 1721:30, the pilot reported he had the airport in sight. At 1722:01, the pilot said he was "doing all right," and at 1725:20 he advised he was on final approach. The pilot was then heard on the Unicom frequency asking all traffic to vacate the area because he had an emergency. The airport manager and the airport's weather observer saw the airplane fly low over runway 21 with the landing gear retracted (see WITNESS STATEMENTS, attached). Neither could recall if an engine had been shut down, but they did say that there was no smoke coming from either engine. They radioed the pilot and told him that his landing gear was still retracted. The pilot replied that he would make a go-around. The airport manager wrote, "I continued watching him as he turned downwind to his base leg, then as he turned to his final. The aircraft seemed to be in a left wing down [position] and the aircraft disappeared behind some trees, at which point all I could see was black smoke coming up from the site." The airport's weather observer wrote, "He was over the runway but was too high to land and didn't have his landing gear down. He said he would go around. [The airport manager] told me to watch him go around. He made a left turn to line up on [runway 21]. The plane banked left and just [spiraled] down nose first." The accident occurred during the hours of daylight at a location of 35 degrees, 12.409 minutes north latitude, and 103 degrees, 34.016 minutes west longitude, or about 2.5 miles northeast of the Tucumcari Vortac on the 037 degree radial. PERSONNEL (CREW) INFORMATION The pilot, age 61, was born on December 9, 1937. He held a commercial pilot certificate, dated August 7, 1968, with airplane single/multiengine and instrument ratings. He also held an expired flight instructor certificate with an airplane single engine land rating. His second class airman medical certificate, dated September 25, 1997, contained the restriction, "Must have glasses available for near vision." The second of two pilot logbooks were made available for examination. The logbook, containing entries from June 1, 1968, to May 13, 1999, indicated he had logged 1,224.7 total hours, of which 742.9 were in multiengine airplanes. Of the latter total, 728.9 hours had been accrued in the PA-23, specifically, N54263 (see SUMMARY OF FLIGHT TIME, attached). His last FAR 61.56 flight review was dated January 29, 1999, and his last FAR 61.57(d) instrument competency check was dated February 13, 1999. AIRCRAFT INFORMATION N54263 (s/n 27-7554049), a Piper PA-23E-250, was manufactured by the Piper Aircraft Corporation on January 3, 1975. It was equipped with two Lycoming TIO-540-C1A engines (s/n L-2085-61, left; L-3621-61A, right), each rated at 250 horsepower, and two Hartzell HC-E2YR-2RBSF propellers. The maintenance records were made available for inspection. The last annual and 100-hour inspections were accomplished on December 17, 1998, at a Hobbs meter time of 798.0 hours, and at a total airframe time of 2,581.0 hours. At this time, both engines had accumulated a total of 2,590.3 hours, and 799.7 hours after having been overhauled on March 15, 1987. The left turbocharger was overhauled and installed on August 5, 1993, at a Hobbs meter time of 450.8 hours, and the right turbocharger was overhauled and installed on December 8, 1987, at a Hobbs meter time of 123.2 hours. Both propellers were overhauled and reinstalled on the airplane on November 5, 1997, at a Hobbs meter time of 731.0 hours. The pitot-static system, both altimeters, encoder, and transponder were checked and certified for IFR usage on November 24, 1998. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION The following observations were made at the Tucumcari Municipal Airport: 1653 - Wind 210 degrees at 18 knots, gusts to 27 knots; visibility 10 statute miles; few clouds at 11,000 feet; temperature 23 degrees C. (73.4 degrees F.), dew point -1 degree C. (30.2 degrees F.) 1750 - Wind 180 degrees at 19 knots, gusts to 26 knots; visibility 30 statute miles; scattered clouds at 15,000 feet; temperature 27 degrees C. (80.6 degrees F.), dew point 6 degrees C. (42.8 degrees F.); altimeter 29.85 inches of mercury, peak wind 150 degrees at 30 knots occurring at 2250. AERODROME INFORMATION Tucumcari Municipal Airport (TCC), elevation 4,064 feet msl, is located six miles east of Tucumcari, New Mexico. It is served by two runways: 08/26 and 03/21. N54263 was in the landing pattern for runway 21, which is 7,100 feet long and 100 feet wide. It is an asphalt runway with a porous friction coarse (pfc) overlay. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION The on-scene investigation commenced May 20, 1999. The airplane impacted flat, rock strewn, open range land on a magnetic heading of 340 degrees. The airplane came to rest 5 to 10 feet away from the initial impact point on a magnetic heading of 290 degrees. Witness marks gave evidence that the airplane was approximately 35 degrees nose down at impact. A postimpact fire consumed most of the airplane, including the nose, instrument panel, main cabin, both wings, and portions of both engines and ## Aircraft - Registration: [N54263](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N54263-2003-01-23), registration cancelled 2003-01-23, S/N 27-7554049, built 1974 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Piper PA-23E-250 - Registry model: [Piper PA-23-250](https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-23-250) (registry code 7102308) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming TI0-540 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-ti0-540-series) (registry code 41533, turbo-prop) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 27-7554049 - Engines: Lycoming TIO-540-C1A 250 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Destroyed - Fire: On-Ground - Flight: Business, Part 91 - Registered owner: Staudte Engineering, Inc. - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, December 17, 1998 - Departed: TCC - Destination: ABQ, ALBUQUERQUE, NM - Flight plan: IFR - Airport: TCC, Tucumcari Municipal, runway 21, 7,100 × 100 ft, asphalt ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 61; commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, valid medical--w/ waivers/lim; seat: left; flight hours: 1,616 total, 729 in this make and model, 1,569 as pilot in command, 33 in the last 90 days, 4 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 180° at 19 knots, gusting 26 - Visibility: 30 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 81 °F, dew point 43 °F - Altimeter: 29.00 inHg - Observed at: TCC, 1 nm away ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19990519005399A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19990519005399A), May 19, 1999: Piper PA23250, Tucumcari, NM, Destroyed, 2 fatal. Pilot advised that the left engine was smoking badly and that he was feathering the propeller and returning to the arpt, the acft was cleared for visual… 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. --- 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.