SEA97FA094

About three hours and twenty minutes after departing Bellingham, Washington, for Midland, Texas, the pilot contacted Klamath Falls (Oregon) Tower and told the controller of his intention to land. About 10 minutes later, while about 30 miles north of Klamath Falls, the pilot reported he was low on fuel and was not able to find the city. The tower responded with instructions that would take the pilot south to the airport. But because the pilot seemed not to be following the instructions, but was instead continuing to the west, he was switched to Seattle Center. Center provided the pilot with a southeasterly heading direct to Klamath Falls, but less than a minute later radar and radio contact with the aircraft was lost. Other pilots overheard the pilot transmit that he had lost power in one engine, and later state that he had lost power in both. Soon thereafter the aircraft was seen to descend to about 200 to 300 feet above the surface of Lake of the Woods. The aircraft then began to slow and its nose began to rise. As it was slowing, one of the engines surged back to a high power setting, and the aircraft almost immediately rolled quickly to the side and dove nearly straight down into the lake. During the post-accident inspection of the airframe, the throttle for the right engine was found retarded to idle, but the throttle for the left engine was found in the full-forward (maximum power) position. A review of the Aerostar owner's manual revealed that the Engine Failure/Restart checklist called for the throttle for a failed engine (both engines in this case) to be retarded to the 'Cracked 1/2 inch open' position. Toxicological results indicate the presence in the pilot's blood of chlordiazepoxide and three of its active metabolites, norchlordiazepoxide, nordiazepam, and oxazepam. Chlordiazepoxide (Librium) is a tranquilizer often used to treat anxiety and tension. At sufficient levels it can have significant adverse effects on judgement, alertness, and performance. It is known to cause drowsiness, mental dullness, and euphoria. The results also indicate the presence of diphenhydramine in the pilot's blood. Diphenhydramine is a sedating antihistamine, and in sufficient quantities is known to produce drowsiness, impaired coordination, blurred vision, and reduced mental alertness.

History of flight

On April 27, 1997, approximately 1245 Pacific daylight time, a Smith Aerostar 601P, N30LL, impacted the surface of Lake of the Woods about 23 miles northwest of Klamath Falls International Airport (Kingsley Field), Oregon. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant, received fatal injuries, and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The pilot, who departed Bellingham International Airport, Bellingham, Washington, about three hours and twenty minutes earlier, was reportedly conducting a 14 CFR Part 91 flight en route to Midland, Texas, in order to visit a relative. The pilot, who had not filed a flight plan, was operating the aircraft in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident.

On the morning of the accident, the pilot went to his aircraft and contacted Aviation Northwest with a request for fuel. When the fueler arrived at the aircraft, the pilot first had him top off the fuselage tank. Then according to the fueler, the pilot pushed the fuselage tank drain valve in order to drain and inspect fuel from the bottom of the tank. When he pushed in the valve, it stuck in the open position, and he had to wiggle it in order to get it to pop out and close. Once it popped out, the fuel stopped flowing and there did not appear to be any leaks. After inspecting the fuel that had been drained from the fuselage tank, the pilot told the fueler to fill both wing tanks to the top because "...he needed every drop he could get." When fueling was completed, the aircraft had taken on 85.9 gallons of aviation fuel, and all tanks had been filled to the top.

About 15 minutes after the aircraft was refueled, the pilot started both engines and began a series of engine run-ups which lasted approximately 35 to 40 minutes. According to a witness, the aircraft remained in its usual parking spot while the pilot ran the engines at various power settings for varying lengths of time. Although one or both engines were occasionally at idle, it appeared to the witness that most of the time was spent with at least one of the engines, and sometimes both, at a high power setting. According to the witness, who said he had observed the run-up from a distance, he did not remember the engines running rough or anything unusual about their operation. At 0912, the pilot terminated the engine runs, and called for a taxi clearance. He was given clearance to runway 16, whereupon he taxied to the runway 16 run-up area and once again performed high-power run-ups on both engines for what was estimated to be about five to six minutes. At 0921, the pilot called Bellingham Tower for takeoff clearance and said that he would be making an eastbound departure. At 0923, the pilot departed Bellingham, made a left turn after takeoff, and was last seen climbing to the east. He did not contact Seattle Approach or Seattle Center during departure, and there is no record of the pilot making contact with any other FAA facility until he contacted Klamath Falls Air Traffic Control Tower at 1225. According to the FAA, the pilot had not filed a flight plan and did not receive an FAA-provided weather briefing prior to departure.

At 1225, the pilot of N30LL contacted Klamath Falls (Kingsley) Tower and said that he was inbound for landing, and estimated that he was 30 miles north-northeast of the airport. The tower told the pilot to report entering a right downwind for runway 32, and then gave him the current altimeter setting. The pilot advised the tower that he had Papa (Automatic Terminal Information Service Information Papa). There was no further contact between the aircraft and the tower until 1235, when the pilot transmitted "Klamath Tower Aero, ah this is ah Aerostar three zero lima, ah we've got ah fuel problem, we're a little low. I am over a lake and I don't know where the city is. I'm headed straight at a mountain with snow on top. Can you help me?" The controller asked the pilot whether he was transponder equipped, and the pilot responded that he was and that he was "...squawking one two zero zero." Then while coordinating with Seattle Center Sector 10 for a discrete transponder code for the aircraft, the controller asked the pilot if the lake he was over was a big lake. The pilot responded with "Yes, a great big lake with a highway on the north end of it." Believing that the pilot was over Klamath Lake (which was later confirmed by recorded time-annotated radar data), the controller told the pilot "Okay, you're over Klamath Lake, which is just northeast of the city. Ah, you can proceed southeast along the ridgeline and ah you'll come right into the city, and then right on ah the southeast side of the city you'll see the airport." The controller further advised the pilot that if he followed the freeway "...it will come right into the city." In addition the controller advised him that once he got over the city of Klamath Falls he would be able to see the airport. The pilot responded to these instructions with "Understand, zero lima lima." About 75 seconds after the pilot had said he was having a fuel problem, the controller told him to squawk a code of 3561, and the pilot repeated the squawk to the controller. The controller asked the pilot what his altitude was, and the pilot advised him he was descending through 7,000 feet. The controller then asked the pilot to confirm that he was low on fuel, but that the engines were still running. The pilot confirmed that was correct, and asked the controller to tell him again what the assigned squawk was. The controller repeated the squawk, and then, because Seattle Center had advised him that the aircraft was continuing to the west and had offered to provide vectors for the pilot, told the pilot he was headed westbound and advised him to contact Seattle Center on 127.6. Soon thereafter, the pilot made radio contact with Seattle Center and was instructed to fly heading one zero zero degrees. At 1239, about one minute after making contact with center, all radar and direct radio contact was lost with the aircraft. About three minutes after losing direct radio contact, the pilot of another aircraft (N116WC) reported he thought he had heard the pilot of N30LL reporting that he was heading toward Klamath Falls, but that one engine had lost power. About one minute after that report, the pilot of a third aircraft (N816JW) reported that he had heard the pilot of N30LL loud and clear, and that the pilot had reported he had lost both engines. There was no further direct or indirect radio contact with the pilot of N30LL.

The next reported sighting of the aircraft occurred at 1242, when it was spotted by individuals who were fishing on Lake of the Woods, which is located about 28 miles northwest of Klamath Falls. According to those individuals, when the aircraft was first observed it had come in low over the lake and had leveled off at about 200 to 300 feet above the surface. As it continued over the lake, which is approximately two and one-half miles long and three-quarter to one mile wide, it began to slow, and its nose began to rise. It reportedly continued to slow, and then suddenly rolled quickly to one side and went "...almost straight down into the lake." Although there were conflicting stories about whether the aircraft's engines were running or not, one pilot-rated witness was adamant that there were absolutely no engine sounds except one very loud engine roar of about two seconds duration that occurred just prior to the aircraft impacting the water. This individual said that he was not looking in the direction where the aircraft went down when it came in over the lake, and that he did not know there was an aircraft in the area until he heard a loud engine roar. Upon hearing the roar, he turned in the direction of the noise just in time to see a plume of water rise from where the aircraft had impacted the lake. He reported that he immediately went to the area where he