DFW06FA021

History of flight

On November 6, 2005, at 0755 central standard time, a twin-engine Piper PA-34-220T airplane, N4171Z, was destroyed upon impact with terrain following a loss of control after calling for a missed approach on the localizer approach (LOC) to Runway 17R at the David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport (DWH), near Tomball, Texas. The instrument rated commercial pilot and his passenger were fatally injured. A passenger car was struck during the impact sequence and the driver sustained minor injuries. The airplane was owned and operated by the pilot. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The flight originated from the Gillespie County Airport (T82) near Fredericksburg, Texas, approximately 1 hour and 12 minutes earlier.

The airplane impacted terrain on airport property on a heading of 345 degrees with the left wingtip, then the main fuselage, before colliding with a power pole. The airplane then stuck the berm to an adjacent public road and impacted a passing vehicle. The airplane continued for an additional 260 feet before coming to rest in a dense line of vegetation parallel to the public road.

In a written statement, an instrument rated pilot, employed by United Flight Systems described his observation as he was standing on the airport ramp. He reported that he "heard the airplane power-up as if going missed." He indicated that it was the usual full power, out of synch sound at first power up. However, it grabbed his attention almost immediately because the Doppler shift sounded wrong. He added that the usual missed approach sound was trailing down the runway and away from him, instead in this case "it appeared as if was coming directly towards him." The witness added that "he knew it was a dangerous situation, so he dropped the tow bar he was holding and waited for the situation to clarify in the event he had to run for cover." He further stated that "as the sound came closer, he heard the engines begin over speeding." The witness indicated that "it was the same sound one hears while doing power-on stalls when the prop blades stop biting the air and developing thrust." The witness added that the sound was still coming directly toward him. He remembers wondering if this was the "run for your life" stage. As he was about to do just that, there was a sudden shift in the sound so I knew the plane was close but not going to hit him. He looked up and out of the overcast appeared the Seneca about 300 feet above him. As the airplane broke out of the clouds, it was "wing down close to vertical and nose down." He stated that the airplane "broke-out pointed a little south of east, left wing almost straight down, turning hard to the left, and slipping." The witness used the term "dead-man spiral," because it was taught to him while he was an instrument student. He added that "it appeared to be a classic example of what he was taught." The witness further stated that the airplane "transitioned from it's initially observed attitude to less than a 45-degree bank" before he lost sight of the airplane about 20 feet above impact and to his north. The witness stated that he continued to watch the airplane to determine where to respond. He reported that he heard the airplane hit just beyond the adjacent hangars and saw debris go at least 40 feet into the air, including a vapor cloud. The witness then turned for his car, grabbed a large fire bottle from the hangar, and proceeded to the accident site.

The driver of the vehicle involved in the accident reported that she was driving south on Stuebner Airline Drive when she noticed out of the right corner of her eye a small aircraft . She stated that she normally saw aircraft along this road as it is located on the west border of the road. The driver recalled the weather that morning was overcast with a low ceiling of clouds. She reported that she did not remember any haze or fog as she saw the plane quite clearly. In a written statement she stated "I noted that the plane was not over where I thought the runway should be, but rather the plane was more over the hangars just to the southwest of my car. I began to wonder if the airplane was going to make an emergency landing on the road because at this point I did not perceive that the plane was in danger of crashing. The nose of the plane appeared parallel to the ground if not modestly tilting toward the sky."

The driver further stated that "the airplane did not appear to be flying normally at this point; from what I remember, it seemed to be trying to pull-up with the nose going up and the tail heading more toward the ground. Then the nose began to go toward the ground as the wings of the plane were going up and down." At this point the driver veered over to the northbound lane of the road in an attempt to slow the car down. The driver then stated that it was "my perception that the airplane was below the level of the power lines at the last moment that I remember, and the last thing that I remember prior to the crash, the airplane was still in the air, but the nose was heading toward the ground (likely the ditch) on the west side of the road."

An additional witness, located approximately 150 yards to the south of the resting place of the main wreckage, reported that he first heard the sounds of an aircraft engines and thought it was coming from a twin-engine airplane that was taking off. The witness then stated that the engine noise was getting louder and sounded as if the airplane was getting closer to his location. He then observed the airplane break out of the cloud layer about 300 to 400 feet above him with "the left wing pointing down and appeared to be yawing to the left." He added that the airplane began to level its wings but was descending at a high rate of speed. The witness then stated that the airplane "began to pull up but it was too low." The witness lost sight of the airplane at about 10 to 15 feet above the ground. He heard the impact sound, jumped in his truck and drove to the accident site to offer assistance.

Injuries to persons

The pilot and his passenger sustained fatal injuries due to the impact forces involved during the crash sequence. The female driver of a privately owned vehicle sustained minor injuries.

Other damage

There was minor damage to the upper fiberglass fairing of a parked semi-tractor. An electrical wooden utility pole was sheared about two feet above its base and a privately owned passenger vehicle was destroyed in the crash sequence.

Personnel information

Review of information on file with the FAA Airman's Certification Division, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, revealed that the 55-year old pilot was issued a commercial pilot certificate, with ratings for airplane single engine land and instrument airplane. The pilot held a third-class medical certificate issued on September 15, 2005, with the limitation, "Must wear corrective lenses and possess glasses for near and interim vision." The pilot reported his total flight time was 1,783 hours on his FAA Form 8170.1, Airmen Certificate and/or Rating Application for commercial airplane multiengine rating dated October 18, 2005. Review of the pilot's logbook revealed the last recorded entry was on October 29, 2005. The pilot had logged 1,795.8 hours, with 350 hours of actual instrument at that time of which 41.1 hours and 3.9 hours actual instrument time were in the PA-34-220T. The pilot logbook indicated that 13.3 of those hours were as pilot in command with zero hours logged under actual instrument time.

Aircraft information

The 1998 model airplane, serial number 34490654, was certificated for single pilot operation, with seating for six occupants. All aircraft components were original equipment on the aircraft since new and showed a total time on th