# NTSB SEA97FA006: Piper PA-34-200T, N666HL, Cle Elum, WA, October 8, 1996 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Field investigation · Final report - Date: October 8, 1996, 03:26 local (10:26 UTC) - Place: Cle Elum, WA - Coordinates: 47.199768, -120.900444 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=47.1998&lon=-120.9004&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 1 fatal - Status: Completed, report March 31, 1998 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB case key (mKey): 42484 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=SEA97FA006 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/42484/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA97FA006 ## Probable cause The pilot's physical impairment of judgment and performance, his decision to fly while impaired, and his subsequent failure to maintain control of the aircraft which led to the aircraft's design stress limits being exceeded and inflight separation of the horizontal stabiliator and right wing. Contributing to the accident were: pilot fatigue and self-induced pressure to fly. ## Analysis The pilot went to a doctor 6 hours before reporting to fly, and was diagnosed with gastritis, reflux symptoms, and fatigue. Just before taking off on the accident flight, the pilot complained to a fellow company pilot that he felt ill, expressing fear of repercussions from his company if he grounded himself. A few minutes before disappearing from contact with air traffic control, he radioed the fellow pilot (who was in another company aircraft on the same route): 'I don't feel so good...I feel like I'm going to toss my cookies.' The aircraft wreckage was located about 11 hours after the disappearance, with the pilot fatally injured inside. Wreckage distribution at the accident site was indicative of inflight separation of the right wing and horizontal stabilator. Subsequent examination indicated that the wing and stabilator separations were a result of overstress. No evidence of mechanical problems was noted, other than the separated wing and stabilator. In constructing a history of the pilot's activities before the accident, investigators found that his activities for the two days before the accident (during a rest period) were on a schedule inconsistent with his night air cargo duties. ## Factual narrative HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 8, 1996, approximately 0326 Pacific daylight time, Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) lost radio and radar contact with AIRPAC Airlines Flight 72 (N666HL), a Piper PA-34-200T operating on a 14 CFR 135 non-scheduled domestic cargo flight from Spokane International Airport, Spokane, Washington, to Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington. The last contact with the aircraft was reported to be approximately 61 nautical miles east of Seattle. The aircraft was on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan; however, visual meteorological conditions were reported at Wenatchee and Yakima, Washington, the closest weather reporting stations. The substantially damaged aircraft wreckage was located approximately 3 miles southeast of Cle Elum, Washington by air search and rescue personnel of the Washington State Department of Aeronautics at approximately 1425. The commercial pilot, the airplane's sole occupant, was found by ground rescue personnel to have been fatally injured. AIRPAC Flight 72 was the second leg of a two-leg trip, consisting of flight from Boeing Field to Spokane and return to Boeing Field. According to trip logs recovered from the aircraft wreckage, AIRPAC flight 48, the Boeing Field-Spokane outbound leg, had a start-duty time of 2300 on the evening of October 7, departed Boeing Field on schedule at 2345 on October 7 and arrived in Spokane on schedule at 0120 on October 8. AIRPAC 72, the return flight on which the accident occurred, had a start-duty time at Spokane of 0130, and departed Spokane on schedule at 0215. It was scheduled to arrive at Boeing Field at 0400. The filed route of flight was the V2 Federal airway from Spokane to Seattle VORTAC, and thence to Boeing Field. Another AIRPAC pilot, who flew a separate AIRPAC flight from Spokane to Seattle on the night of the accident, reported that in a conversation with the accident pilot while on the ground at Spokane, the accident pilot complained of feeling ill. This pilot stated that when he asked the accident pilot why he had come to work if he was feeling ill, the accident pilot expressed a belief that he would get into trouble if he did not show up to fly. The fellow AIRPAC pilot also reported that during Flight 72's trip, his (the fellow pilot's) flight was approximately 10 miles ahead of Flight 72 and that he was in radio contact with the accident pilot on a company frequency. This pilot stated that shortly before the loss of contact, the accident pilot radioed to him: "I don't feel so good....I feel like I'm going to toss my cookies." According to FAA air traffic control (ATC) records, the last confirmed radio contact between AIRPAC 72 and Seattle ARTCC was when AIRPAC 72 checked onto the Seattle sector 2 frequency at 9,000 feet, at 0311:55. The pilot of AIRPAC 72 was also possibly heard on the Seattle sector 2 frequency at 0312:35, saying "yea nine point six behind you", and again (possibly) at 0315:08 saying "wait." At 0323:54, the sector 2 radar controller advised AIRPAC 72 that radar contact had been lost and issued instructions for AIRPAC 72 to report when 45 miles east of Seattle. AIRPAC 72 did not reply to this call, according to the ATC transcript. The sector 2 radar controller repeated the loss of radar contact and the instruction twice more to AIRPAC 72, at 0326:30 and again at 0326:46, both times without reply. The controller subsequently made repeated attempts to contact AIRPAC 72, all without success. When AIRPAC 72 could not be contacted or located after repeated attempts, missing aircraft procedures were initiated. The loss of contact with ATC took place in an area of limited ATC radar coverage. ATC controllers on duty in Seattle ARTCC at the time of the loss of contact characterized the loss of radar contact with AIRPAC 72 as occurring at a normal location for the route and altitude of flight. Over 90 seconds elapsed between the next-to-last position recorded on radar and the aircraft's final positive radar return. The aircraft's last radar position, recorded at 0324:46, was approximately one mile west of the crash site at an altitude of 8,900 feet (100 feet below the aircraft's assigned altitude.) A plot of the 0324:46 radar return position onto a Seattle sectional chart showed the aircraft to be approximately on course at that time. The radar target went into "coast" mode at 0326:05. The accident occurred during the hours of darkness at approximately 47 degrees 9 minutes North and 120 degrees 54 minutes West. PERSONNEL INFORMATION The 33-year-old pilot was hired by AIRPAC on June 5, 1996, approximately four months prior to the accident. His company flight time and duty records, and his pilot logbook, indicated that prior to the accident, his last AIRPAC flight was on October 4, 1996. Company flight time and duty records indicated that for the previous two weeks, the pilot's duty cycle at AIRPAC started consistently at 2300, with the last flight of the duty cycle ending between approximately 0330 and 0410. The pilot typically entered standby status at 0515, but had not flown during a standby period since September 19, 1996. The pilot's standby periods in the previous two weeks ended between 0545 and 0705, with the majority of those ending just after 0600. As of October 4, 1996, the pilot had logged 183.9 hours year-to-date, 11.5 hours month-to-date, 13.0 hours in the past week, and 3.3 hours in the past 24 hours, according to company records. Investigators reconstructed a history of the pilot's known activities during the period between duty-end at 0515 on Friday, October 4 and duty-start at 2300 on Monday, October 7, a period during which the pilot did not perform any duties with AIRPAC. While investigators were unable to obtain any information pertaining to the pilot's activities after end-duty on Friday, October 4 or at any time during Saturday, October 5, findings were made with respect to the accident pilot's activities on Sunday, October 6 as well as to before duty-start on Monday, October 7 (the night of the accident trip.) The accident pilot was a naval reservist and a rated Naval Flight Officer (NFO). According to a safety officer in his naval reserve unit, he flew as a tactical coordinator (TACCO-a mission crew position) on the Lockheed P-3 Orion antisubmarine warfare (ASW) patrol aircraft. On Sunday, October 6, the accident pilot performed naval reserve duty at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island, Washington. According to an activity history prepared by safety personnel in the pilot's naval reserve unit, the pilot departed his home of Issaquah, Washington, in his personal car at approximately 0530 Sunday morning for NAS Whidbey Island (a driving distance of approximately 95 miles from Issaquah), arriving there at approximately 0730 and starting duty at that time. The accident pilot's duties consisted of an aircraft preflight, an intelligence briefing, lunch from 1100 to 1230, "general NFO discussions in [the] wardroom" from 1230 to 1500, aircraft preflight from 1500 to 1615, and a 1-hour local P-3 flight from 1615 to 1715. The accident pilot then drove home to Issaquah, departing approximately 1715 and arriving at approximately 1915. Personnel from the pilot's naval reserve unit, and staff at Galvin Flying Service of Boeing Field (where the pilot gave flight instruction on an occasional basis), furnished additional information indicating that at about 0645 on the morning of Monday, October 7, the pilot was at Galvin Flying Service to give simulator instruction to a friend. The instructional period began at about 0715. The simulator student reported that when they encountered mechanical problems with the simulator, they remained there to troubleshoot the device until the student departed at about 0830 for another appointment. The student reported that the accident pilot remained at Galvin Flying Service to continue troubleshooting the simulator at t ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of control - in flight, cruise - aircraft control - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - physical impairment, pilot in command (cause) - improper decision, pilot in command (cause) - fatigue, pilot in command (contributing factor) - self-induced pressure, pilot in command (contributing factor) - Airframe/component/system failure/malfunction, descent - uncontrolled - design stress limits of aircraft - exceeded, pilot in command (cause) - horizontal stabilizer - overload - horizontal stabilizer - separation - wing - overload - wing - separation - In flight collision with terrain/water, descent - uncontrolled ## Aircraft - Registration: [N666HL](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N666HL-1997-09-11), registration cancelled 1997-09-11, S/N 347770235 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Piper PA-34-200T - Registry model: [Piper PA-34-200T](https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-34-200t) (registry code 7103406) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 34-7770235 - Airframe hours: 12301 - Engines: Continental TSIO-360-EB 200 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Part 135 - Registered owner: Airpac Airlines Inc. - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Continuous airworthiness, September 18, 1996, 61 hours before - Departed: GEG, SPOKANE, WA - Destination: BFI, SEATTLE, WA - Flight plan: IFR ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 33; commercial, flight instructor; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, valid medical--w/ waivers/lim; seat: left; toxicology performed; flight hours: 1,539 total, 148 in this make and model, 133 in the last 90 days, 70 in the last 30 days, 2 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Night/dark - Wind: 250° at 5 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 52 °F, dew point 46 °F - Altimeter: 30.00 inHg - Observed at: YKM, 38 nm away ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19961008047329A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19961008047329A), Oct 8, 1996: Piper PA34200T, Cleelum, WA, Destroyed, 1 fatal. (-16) Aircraft broke up in flight. Investigation did not detect reason for break up. Pilot reported of being ill during flight just prior to loss of contact on… ## Other investigations on N666HL (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB SEA81DA052](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA81DA052), Aug 10, 1981: Piper PA-34 (N666HL), Wenatchee, WA, substantial damage From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.