IAD98LA104

The pilot and passenger returned to their home airport after practicing landings at nearby airports. The pilot remembered an uneventful approach for the night landing on a 7,000-foot runway. The pilot could not remember the landing. The passenger reported to the airport police that '...[the pilot] was at the controls demonstrating a nighttime landing when they took a bad hop and crashed, landing upside down.' Examination of the wreckage revealed that, after departing the runway, the airplane struck the ground in a nose down attitude. The impact separated the nose gear and both engines from their mounts. The airplane subsequently nosed over and came to rest inverted.

On August 29, 1998, at 2205 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-30, N8349Y, was substantially damaged during landing at the Dayton International Airport (DAY), Dayton, Ohio. The certificated commercial pilot was seriously injured. The pilot rated passenger received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight that originated at Muncie, Indiana, at 2130. No flight plan was filed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

In a telephone interview with a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Safety Inspector, the pilot stated they flew to Muncie, Indiana (MIE), for practice landings, then flew to Richmond, Indiana (RID), for another landing before returning to Dayton.

The pilot stated the airplane was configured for landing on final approach to DAY and he expected "...a near perfect landing since the winds were calm." He said his next recollection was waking up in the hospital.

The airplane departed the left side of the landing runway, collided with terrain, nosed over, and came to rest inverted.

In a telephone interview with the FAA Inspector, the passenger stated his attention was inside the airplane as he announced "...airspeed, etc..." to the pilot. He was not looking outside. The copilot said the power increased and the "...aircraft pitched up and rotated left like a VMC stall." He remembered hearing metal crunching and seeing the ground through the windshield.

In a written statement, the passenger said:

"I was watching and reading out the airspeeds to the flying pilot [and] last remembered 118-115 knots. Then, the aircraft nose pitched up and I looked out. The aircraft started to cock right. I then went back to read the airspeed and I heard power come in. All I remember after that is a left turn and the ground coming up fast in the landing lights."

On the night of the accident, the passenger reported to the airport police that "...[the pilot] was at the controls demonstrating a nighttime landing when they took a bad hop and crashed, landing upside down."

Examination of photographs of the wreckage revealed extensive damage to the nose and the forward areas of both engine nacelles. The engine nacelles were crushed up and aft and both engines were separated from their mounts. The cockpit/cabin area above the wing box was crushed up and aft on both sides.

The nose gear was separated from its mounts, but still entangled in the nose compartment wreckage. The nose gear strut rested parallel to the ground and the nose wheel extended beyond the nose and 90 degrees forward of the forward down-lock position.

The blades of both propellers displayed similar twisting and bending. Both spinners displayed torsional twisting.

The pilot reported 5,000 hours of flight experience, 3,000 hours of which were in make and model. Weather reported the night of the accident was clear skies with winds from 250 degrees at 6 knots.