IAD04FA030

The airplane, which was not operating on a flight plan, was proceeding in clear skies to an airport where the passenger was joining his wife. After crossing a lake near the destination, the airplane flew over rising terrain, along a saddleback, until it struck a stand of old-growth trees that jutted above new-growth trees. During the last 48 seconds of radar coverage, the airplane climbed 600 feet with no erratic course deviations. From the accident location, the airport would have been about 5 nautical miles off the airplane's right wing. The pilot had 32,000 hours of flight experience. The passenger was under investigation for fraud, and attempted to obtain life insurance prior to the flight. The passenger had also loaned money to the pilot, and was receiving "flight services" in lieu of cash payment when the pilot failed to pay back the loan. A .380 caliber pistol magazine was found at the accident site with two rounds of ammunition missing; however, no weapon was located at the site, and no weapon of that caliber was known to be associated with either the pilot or the passenger. Premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) were found on electrocardiograms performed in conjunction with the pilot's airman medical certificate applications in 2002 and 2004. The pilot's autopsy report indicated "severe calcific...coronary disease, with 90 percent narrowing of the left anterior descending coronary artery and 75 percent narrowing of the right coronary artery." Cause of death, for both the pilot and passenger, was listed as "undetermined." The autopsy reports also noted that, "due to the inability to perform a complete autopsy...of either of the two aircraft occupants, it cannot be determined whether either the pilot or the passenger were alive or dead at the time of the crash." Postaccident inspection of the airplane disclosed no evidence of any preimpact anomalies.

This narrative was modified on April 25, 2007.

History of flight

On July 10, 2004, at 0858 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-31-350, N45032, operated by Capital Airlines, Inc., was destroyed when it impacted trees and terrain in Ticonderoga, New York. The certificated airline transport pilot and the passenger were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the flight between Waterbury-Oxford Airport (OXC), Oxford, Connecticut, and Ticonderoga Municipal Airport (4B6), Ticonderoga, New York. The regulation under which the flight was conducted was unknown.

According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, principals of the company reported that the passenger had stated to them that he was a pilot, and was interested in investing in the company. The accident pilot had previously flown the passenger on one CFR Part 135 charter flight, and another CFR Part 91 flight as a potential investor.

On the morning of the accident, the pilot was flying the passenger to Ticonderoga, so the passenger could join his wife.

Witnesses in the area reported seeing the airplane near the accident site, but none saw the accident occur.

A review of radar data revealed that the airplane approached Ticonderoga from the south, passing about 10 nautical miles east of Glens Falls, New York, at 2,300 feet above mean sea level (msl). It continued northbound, passing about 1 nautical mile east of Whitehall, New York. About 5 nautical miles west of Fair Haven, New York, it turned to the northwest. Once it reached the vicinity of Dresden, New York, it again turned north, until reaching the eastern shore of Lake George, just north of Record Hill, at 1,800 feet. The airplane then crossed the lake in a northwest direction, passing over the western shoreline just north of Rogers Rock, at 1,500 feet. The airplane continued to the northwest, flying above a rising saddle, with altitudes of 1,500 feet at 0857:03, 1,900 feet at 0857:15, 1,700 feet at 0857:27, 1,700 feet at 0857:39, and a final altitude of 2,100 feet at 0857:51. There were no erratic course deviations noted in the radar track.

Approximate elevations of land features along the airplane's final track included hills on the eastern shore of Lake George at 1,000 feet, Lake George at 300 feet, and hills on the western side of Lake George at 700 feet. The right side of the saddle was topped by Old Fort Mountain, which rose to about 2,030 feet, then descended to about 1,840 feet in the vicinity of the accident site.

The accident occurred during daylight hours, in the vicinity of 43 degrees, 50.62 minutes north latitude, 73 degrees, 30.96 minutes west longitude.

Personnel information

- Pilot -

The pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate, and was retired from a major airline. He was rated in a number of transport category airplanes, and was also a certificated flight instructor in single engine and multi-engine airplanes, and instrument-airplane. His latest FAA first class medical certificate was issued on May 7, 2004, and at that time, the pilot indicated a total of 32,000 flight hours.

The pilot was listed in Capital Airline's operations specifications as the president and director of operations.

- Passenger -

There was no evidence that the passenger was a certificated pilot.

According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, the FBI had, prior to the accident, initiated an investigation of the passenger, based on allegations that he had defrauded private lenders.

As collateral for a number of loans, the passenger had provided, to the attorney through which the loans were made, Letters of Credit that were purportedly bank-issued. When the loans were due on June 30, 2004, the attorney attempted to collect on them, without success. On July 8, 2004, the attorney learned that the Letters of Credit were fraudulent. When subsequently confronted, the passenger admitted they were fraudulent, but also stated that he had a pending deal with another bank to provide $1.85 million that could be used to repay a portion of the earlier loans. The passenger then provided a letter, purportedly from that bank, which stated that $1.5 million had been sent to the attorney's account.

On July 9, 2004, the attorney's son, who was also an attorney, attempted to verify the bank letter, and learned that the person who allegedly signed it was not a bank employee. When the passenger was confronted later that same day, he admitted that the letter was not legitimate, but further stated that he had a deal with a bank, but for $750,000. The passenger also stated that he would use the funds to provide the original lenders some of the money they were due during the week of July 12, 2004, and would make arrangements for the remaining balances to be paid.

On July 9, 2004, the passenger also attempted to reinstate millions of dollars of insurance policies on himself without success.

On the morning of July 10, 2004, the passenger attempted to obtain an insurance policy, "immediately prior to the departure of the accident flight," but was unsuccessful.

The FBI agent also noted that, "prior to July 10, 2004, the passenger had been acting in an increasingly unusual manner. He began to take less care in his personal hygiene and attended work less often. His business appeared to be suffering increasing financial difficulties prior to the crash."

According to a letter signed by the pilot, and copies of cancelled checks, on February 5, 2004, the passenger, through his company, lent the pilot $4,000. Along with a $1,000 borrowing fee, the total amount was due to the passenger's company on April 5, 2004. The letter further stated that, upon default of full payment by that date, "Capital Airlines agrees to provide flight services to [the passenger's company] until the debt is paid."

In a subsequent letter written on behalf of the passenger's wife, her attorney stated, "no portion of the debt was paid by April 5, 2004, and therefore Capital Airlines provided flight services to the [passenger's company and the passenger] in exchange for [the passenger's] forbearance on the loan."

Aircraft information

The airplane was manufactured in 1980, and was modified with a Colemill conversion, with Q-tip propeller blades. The latest annual inspection was completed on May 26, 2004.

Meteorological information

Weather at the nearest recorded facility, an airport about 35 nautical miles to the south, at 0853, included clear skies, visibility 10 statute miles, winds from 180 degrees true, at 4 knots, temperature 66 degrees F, dew point 61 degrees F, and a barometric pressure of 30.06 inches of mercury.

Wreckage and impact information

The wreckage was located about 1/2 mile to the northwest of the Old Fort Mountain summit, at an elevation of about 1,740 feet. The accident site was 4.7 nautical miles southwest of Ticonderoga Municipal Airport.

The area was heavily forested, with new growth trees rising to about 60 feet, and stumps from earlier logging operations also present. There were also numerous stands of old growth trees which rose an estimated 60-80 feet above the new growth trees.

Due to the heavy canopy of new growth trees, initial tree impact heights could not be determined. However, at the base of a stand of four old growth trees, of various types, there were airplane metal fragments along with branches from three of the trees. Metal fragments and tree limbs continued along a heading of approximately 360 degrees for an estimated 200 feet, then curved to a heading of about 020 degrees. The wreckage path was about 500 feet in length, with a downward angle of about 10 degrees.

All flight control surfaces were accounted for at the accident scene. The airframe was extremely fractured; however, flight control continuity was confirmed by correlating the pulled-apart flight control cables to their corresponding flight contro