SEA96FA171

The pilot-under-instruction (PUI) who possessed an expired medical, and the pilot-in-command (PIC), an ATP pilot with 1240 hours in the Cessna 340, departed on the third training flight for the PUI in the aircraft. The second training flight, flown the previous Saturday, had included single-engine work. The aircraft was observed in the vicinity of the Richland airport by witnesses, several of whom reported the left propeller turning slowly. All witnesses reported seeing the aircraft descending rapidly to the ground in a nose down attitude and several witnesses described the descent as a spin. The aircraft impacted the ground in a near vertical, nose low attitude and was destroyed by fire. Postcrash examination of the aircraft revealed the left propeller in the feathered position and power signatures on the blades of the right propeller. Disassembly of both engines revealed no pre-impact mechanical malfunction. The gear and flaps were up and the rudder trim tab showed about 5 degrees of left tab trim. The information manual for the Cessna 340 indicates that the air minimum control speed (single engine), Vmca is 82 KIAS. The manual also indicates that a more suitable airspeed for one engine inoperative training events is 91 KIAS.

History of flight

On July 27, 1996, approximately 0855 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 340A, N341TL, registered to FBN, Inc., and being flown by a certificated private pilot accompanied by an airline transport pilot, was destroyed upon collision with terrain during an uncontrolled descent following a loss of control in flight while in the traffic pattern at the Richland airport, Richland, Washington. Both pilots were fatally injured and a post crash fire consumed the aircraft. Visual meteorological conditions existed and no flight plan had been filed. The flight was to have been operated under 14CFR91, and originated from the Pasco Airport, Pasco, Washington, located eight nautical miles east of the crash site, at 0832.

According to the private pilot's wife, the flight was to have been conducted for the purpose of instructional training for her husband to qualify him in the aircraft. The private pilot was believed to have occupied the front left seat with the airline transport pilot occupying the front right seat.

A number of witnesses from the south through the west, north and east reported observing the aircraft prior to and at the time of the accident (refer to attached statements).

One witness located south of the accident site and near the southwest boundary of the airport reported seeing the aircraft "fly over the 01 runway at 650 (feet) MSL (mean sea level) with one engine running very badly" - "the left engine was not operating." He further reported "approx(imately) one to two min(utes) later I saw the plane going into the ground at approx(imately) a 70 to 80 degree angle."

A second witness located southwest of the accident site at the local golf course observed the aircraft briefly and reported that "the attitude of the aircraft was banked and in a turn with the nose down heading for the ground at a steep angle" and that "the sound of them (the aircraft) adding full power (sounded like one engine) caused me to look up." The witness also reported that he had heard an aircraft conducting takeoff/landings at the Richland airport earlier but was unsure whether it was the accident aircraft.

A third witness located west of the accident site at the local golf course observed the aircraft and reported that he "could tell it was a twin-engine, flying very low in a north-northwest direction, almost directly toward us" and that "it appeared that only one engine was working." He continued reporting that "then the plane keeled over, and dove straight down."

A fourth witness located northwest of the accident site and driving southeast along highway 240 reported that he "noticed an airplane in what appeared to be a hard banking turn similar to actions I had seen crop dusters do after a pass."

A fifth witness located northeast of the accident site and driving northwest along highway 240 reported that shortly after 0853 he "saw a white twin engine aircraft about 1/3 mile to my left and at a height of about 500 feet" and that "the left engine propeller was barely rotating" estimating that "it was turning at about one revolution every 2 " 'the plane then began turning left all the while loosing (sic) some elevation" and "as the plane turned left the left wing began to drop." He continued reporting that "the plane had made almost a 90 degree turn and was heading pretty much away from the highway and was now about 300 feet off the ground" and "then the left wing dropped rapidly, the plane rolled rapidly counter clockwise and the nose of the plane went down."

A sixth witness also located northeast of the accident site and driving northwest along highway 240 reported that when he first saw the plane it "was at a low altitude (approx. 200 feet AGL) and in a left bank (approx. 15-20 degrees) also traveling westbound" and "as the plane continued a left turn the bank angle continued to steepen" and "as the plane turned toward the south it appeared to be going very slowly." He further reported that "the plane appeared to lose forward progress and pitched nose down, spireled (sic) (approx. 1 turn) to the ground almost strait (sic) in."

A seventh witness located east of the accident site and in his automobile at the intersection of Highway 240 and the Richland bypass reported seeing the aircraft enter into a one and a half to two turn spin during which the nose traveled from a horizontal to a vertical attitude.

Personnel information

Pilot-in-command

In a telephone interview conducted 04/25/97 with the flight instructor (CFI) referenced under the last flight logged in the PIC's logbook (refer to ATTACHMENT L-IA & B, a copy of the last page entry within the PIC's personal logbook), the following information was ascertained. The CFI reported that this flight was a bi-annual flight review for the PIC, and was conducted on the evening of July 27, 1996, in a Cessna 172. He reported that that the PIC flew well with no problems and that he received several hours of ground training along with the flight check. Although the CFI's certificate expiration date was logged as 05/31/96, this was an administrative error as the CFI had renewed his CFI as of 05/03/96 and the new expiration date was 05/31/98.

This same CFI reported that he ferried N541TL from Waterloo, Iowa, to Pasco, via Rapid City, South Dakota, and Billings, Montana, on March 5/6, 1996, logging a total of 7.8 hours of flight time. He also reported flying the aircraft for the operator on three occasions, 1) March 12 for 2.7 hours, 2) March 28 for 2.0 hours and 3) April 17 for 1.5 hours. He made no other flights in the aircraft and reported that the aircraft was in good condition with no mechanical problems during the flights.

In a telephone interview conducted on 04/25/96 with the safety pilot referenced under the first flight logged in N541TL shown in the PIC's logbook (refer to ATTACHMENT L-IIA & B, a copy of the next to the last page entry within the PIC's personal logbook), the following information was ascertained. The safety pilot, who is the father of the previously described CFI, holds an ATP certificate and confirmed that he flew with the PIC in N541TL on May 14, 1996. He remembered the specific flight and reported that the PIC did conduct simulated single-engine airwork at an estimated altitude of 3,000 feet. He could not specifically remember whether the PIC actually shut down the engine and feathered the propeller or merely brought the engine to idle to during the simulation. He did recall that the PIC established the aircraft in a left hand orbit with 5-10 degrees angle of bank when simulating the right engine out. He speculated that he expected the PIC to actually shut down the engine and feather the propeller during engine out training due to his extensive experience in the aircraft from earlier years.

ATTACHMENT L-IIIA & B is a copy of the PIC's logbook pages immediately preceding the pages referenced in ATTACHMENT L-IIA & B. L-IIIA was the only page with a recognizable "year" reference. Several mid-page entries referenced dated flights as follows; a C172 flight conducted in 1993 followed by a C152 flight conducted in 1994 and a second C152 flight conducted in 1974. These three sequential entries were the only entries within the logbook where a "year" reference had not been obliterated fire damage. A total of 37 flights were logged following the second 1974 logged flight and the BFR conducted 07/26/96, of which 24 (31.3 hours of flight time (all pilot-in-command)) were conducted in the accident aircraft between 05/14/96 and 07/26/96. The PIC's logbook showed a total of 945 flights logged in Cessna 340 aircraft with a total of approximately 1,240 hours.

Pilot-under-instruction

In a telephone interview conducted 09/16/96, with the wife of the pilot-under-instruction (PUI) she reported that her husband flew three successive Saturday flights with the PIC, 07/13, 07/20, and the accident flight (refer to arrows on ATTACHMENT L-IA)