SEA97FA005

History of flight

On October 8, 1996, at 0845 Pacific daylight time, N761TQ, a Cessna T210M, operated by the owner/pilot, collided with wires, poles, trees, and terrain and was destroyed while on an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to Runway 16R at Paine Field in Everett, Washington. The instrument-rated private pilot, the sole occupant, was fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The personal flight departed from Buena, Washington, and was destined for Everett. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR 91.

According to voice recordings and radar data (attached) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) in Seattle, Washington, the pilot requested an instrument clearance to Paine Field at 0810 while airborne at 4,000 feet above mean sea level (msl). The ARTCC granted the clearance and began to vector the airplane for the ILS Runway 16R approach.

At 0830:54, the pilot was instructed to turn to a heading of 330 degrees; the pilot acknowledged and the airplane gradually turned to 348 degrees while its ground speed decreased from 140 knots to 130 knots in 2 minutes.

At 0832:56, the pilot was instructed to turn to a heading of 250 degrees; the pilot acknowledged and the airplane gradually turned to 289 degrees while its ground speed decreased from 130 knots to 113 knots in 2 minutes.

At 0834:51, the pilot was instructed to turn to a heading of 180 degrees and was cleared for the approach; the pilot acknowledged and the airplane gradually turned to 272 degrees while its ground speed increased from 113 knots to 126 knots in 1 minute.

At 0835:47, the pilot was told "you've gone through the localizer..." and was instructed to turn to a heading of 130 to reintercept; the pilot acknowledged and gradually turned to 242 degrees in about 30 seconds.

At 0836:18, the controller told the pilot that the pilot's approach clearance was canceled, and the controller instructed the pilot to turn to a heading of 070 degrees to begin vectoring for another approach; the pilot acknowledged and the airplane gradually turned to 177 degrees while its ground speed decreased from 123 knots to 93 knots in 45 seconds.

At 0837:04, the pilot was instructed to turn to a heading of 030 degrees; the pilot acknowledged and the airplane gradually turned to 123 degrees while its ground speed decreased from 93 knots to 73 knots in 1 minutes.

At 0838:09, the pilot was instructed to turn to a heading of 350 degrees; the pilot acknowledged and the airplane gradually turned to 039 degrees while its ground speed increased from 73 knots to 96 knots in 102 seconds.

At 0841:00, the pilot was instructed to turn to a heading of 180 degrees and was cleared for another approach; the pilot acknowledged and the airplane gradually turned to 241 degrees while its ground speed increased from 94 knots to 137 knots, then decreased to 115 knots in 2 minutes. The airplane's altitude remained about 2,900 feet msl during all of the vectoring.

At 0842:05, the controller instructed the pilot to contact the Paine Field Air Traffic Control (ATC) Tower; the pilot acknowledged. The airplane's heading changed from 244 degrees to 203 degrees while its ground speed increased from 116 knots to 129 knots with no change in altitude.

The pilot subsequently contacted the tower controller, and the controller cleared the pilot to land on runway 16R. About one minute later, the controller told the pilot that the runway visual range for runway 16R was 1,000 feet. The pilot acknowledged; this was his last transmission. No distress calls were made by the pilot during the entire accident flight.

At 0843:17, the airplane began to descend out of 2,900 feet msl. From the beginning of the descent until the accident, the airplane descended about 1,000 feet per minute while its ground speed increased from 127 knots to 151 knots and its heading changed from 203 degrees to 184 degrees. The last recorded radar hit occurred at 0845:17; the airplane was about 400 feet above the ground, 1 mile from runway 16R, and traveling at 151 knots at the time of the last radar hit.

Ground witnesses reported hearing and seeing the airplane flying "low" through "thick fog" and impacting a utility pole. One witness stated that he heard the engine "rev up" just prior to impact. The airplane then struck trees and came to rest inverted about 800 feet from the approach threshold of runway 16R.

The accident occurred during daylight conditions at the following coordinates: North 47 degrees, 54 minutes; West 122 degrees, 16 minutes.

Aircraft information

The accident airplane, a Cessna model T210M, was manufactured in 1978 and was powered by a single 310-horsepower Continental turbocharged, propeller-driven engine. The airplane was registered to, and operated privately by, the accident pilot since 1978.

The Safety Board obtained and reviewed the aircraft maintenance records of the airplane. A review of the records (excerpts of copies attached) revealed that the airplane had not received an annual inspection since March 10, 1994, or an IFR certification inspection since January 13, 1993. Entries subsequent to the last annual inspection were found in the logbook; the last entry was dated June 27, 1996, and documented the overhaul of a hydraulic pump. Information from the records and the airplane's tachometer hour meter revealed that the airplane had logged a total of 2,758 hours at the time of the accident, 243 hours since it's last logged inspection, and 980 hours since its engine was rebuilt.

The records also indicated that the engine received an annual inspection on May 8, 1996, with no outstanding discrepancies noted. The engine accumulated an additional 68 hours from the time of this inspection to the accident.

According to a fixed based operator in Yakima, Washington, who had performed the most recent logged inspection on the accident airplane, the pilot routinely operated the airplane in and out of a private dirt strip located near his orchard properties, and the pilot often performed his own maintenance of the accident airplane.

Personnel information

The pilot, age 75, held an FAA Private Pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land airplanes and instrument airplanes. An examination of the pilot's personal flight log book (excerpts of copies attached) revealed that he had logged a total of 4,191 hours as of January 1, 1993. No subsequent entries were found in the log book. The most recent flight review was dated March 19, 1990.

According to FAA records, the pilot was issued an FAA Third Class Medical Certificate on November 13, 1992. The pilot indicated that he had logged in excess of 4,000 flight hours at the time of the medical application. The medical certificate had expired on December 1, 1994, after the pilot had failed to undergo several specified medical tests required by the FAA.

Information contained in the pilot's medical records indicated that the pilot underwent "an aortocoronary saphenous vein by-pass graft to the left anterior descending coronary artery" on May 13, 1980. He failed to notify the FAA of the surgery and continued to fly under a medical certificate that was valid at the time of the operation. Seven months after the surgery, the FAA suspended the pilot's airman certificate after a "friend of neighbors of [the pilot were] concerned about his piloting his aircraft following open heart surgery...." The pilot subsequently underwent numerous tests and was continually granted medical certificates by the FAA until December 1, 1994.

The medical records also revealed that the pilot had checked "no" under the category of previous "Heart or vascular trouble" at the time of his most recent medical certificate application. Also, the records indicated that the pilot had a "cystoscop