Airplane Then Made A “Barrel Roll,” Descended To 200 Ft, Turned Left, And Completed One Or Two 360° Rolls Before It Descended

Location: Loudonville, NY Accident Number: ERA24FA262
Date & Time: June 17, 2024, 08:16 Local Registration: C-GKSI
Aircraft: Piper PA31 Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Minor
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Positioning

On June 17, 2024, at 0816 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-31-310, Canadian registration CGKSI, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident in Loudonville, New York. The airline transport pilot was fatally injured and one person on the ground sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 positioning flight.

The airplane departed runway 19 at Albany International Airport (ALB), Albany, New York, at 0815 on an instrument flight rules flight to Montreal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (CYUL), Montreal, Quebec, Canada. According to witnesses, radar track data, and airport surveillance video, the airplane climbed to 200 ft above ground level (agl) after takeoff and remained at 200-300 ft agl until it passed the departure end of the runway. The airplane then abruptly pitched up, leveled, pitched up again, and climbed to about 800 ft. The airplane then made a “barrel roll,” descended to 200 ft, turned left, and completed one or two 360° rolls before it descended to the ground. The last radar data point showed the airplane at 200 ft and 1.5 nautical miles southeast of ALB, on a track of 007° and at 97 knots ground speed. 

The airplane impacted a wooded area along a wreckage path oriented 011° true and came to rest upright and oriented to 185° true about 165 ft northeast of the last radar data point. The airplane impacted several trees along the wreckage path. A person walking near the accident site sustained minor injuries when she was struck by some debris.

Examination of the wreckage revealed that the right engine with the propeller attached and the left engine propeller which separated from its mounting flange came to rest at the base of a tree about 55 ft before the main wreckage. The left engine was impact separated from its wing attachment points near the main wreckage. The left and right propellers displayed chordwise scarring and leading-edge gouges consistent with rotation at the time of impact. A postimpact fire substantially consumed the wings, fuselage, and empennage, including the horizontal stabilizer, elevator, vertical stabilizer, rudder, and instrument panel. No cockpit instruments were intact, and the throttle control quadrant was impact-damaged with all levers fully forward.

Neither the wreckage nor witness video revealed any evidence of an in-flight fire. The operator reported that the pilot had accrued about 22 hours of flight time in the accident airplane, and about 1,800 total flight hours. The accident flight was a positioning fight back to Canada after completing aerial survey flights in North Carolina. Fuel records and airport video revealed that the airplane was fully fueled before departing from ALB. Testing of the fuel truck fuel revealed no contaminants.

Post-recovery examination of both engines revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Examination of the left and right propellers revealed that both were rotating, consistent with engine power at the time of impact. Flight control continuity of the ailerons was confirmed from the bellcrank at the control surfaces to the aileron drive chains at the control column. The rudder cables were burned away from the rudder horn; however, the cable ends remained attached to the cables which were continuous through fractures consistent with overload to the rudder bar, although one rudder cable was burned away from the attachment at the rudder bar. Flight control continuity was confirmed for the elevator from the elevator bellcrank through fractures consistent with overload and cuts made to facilitate recovery, to the control column. The elevator trim actuator was found with 1.0 inch of threaded rod on the forward side of the actuator with 10 threads exposed, which corresponded to a full nose-up trim condition. 

The wreckage was retained for further examination.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov