Left Fuel Selector Found In The "Off" Position
The NTSB has released its preliminary report in the Palm Beach
accident involving a PA-44 belonging to the Florida Institute of
Technology aviation department which went down on takeoff, fatally
injuring the four people on board. The accident resulted in a
suspension of flight operations at FIT through Monday, and the
dismissal of the schools Director of Aviation.
NTSB Identification: ERA11FA054
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, November 11, 2010 in West Palm Beach,
FL
Aircraft: PIPER AIRCRAFT INC PA-44-180, registration: N883FT
Injuries: 4 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may
contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when
the final report has been completed.
On November 11, 2010, at 1805 eastern standard time, a Piper
PA-44-180, N883FT, registered to and operated by the Florida
Institute of Technology (FIT) Aviation LLC, collided nose down into
taxiway Hotel (H), shortly after takeoff from runway 10R at the
Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), West Palm Beach, Florida.
The training flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 141, with a visual flight
rules (VFR) flight plan filed. The certificated flight instructor
(CFI), a certificated commercial pilot and 2 passengers were
killed, and the airplane was destroyed. There was a post crash
fire. The airplane was departing at the time of the accident,
enroute to Melbourne, Florida (MLB).
According to information from the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) Air Traffic Control Tower at PBI, a female
voice, later determined to be the CFI ,transmitted during initial
climb that they had an engine failure and "needed to turn-around
and land." The controller cleared the flight to land "any runway"
and there was no further communications with the flight.
A security video provided by Galaxy Aviation located at PBI,
showed the accident airplane taking off from runway 10R. The video
was of poor quality due to the lights glaring into the camera from
the main terminal. All that was viewable was the airplane’s
rotating beacon as it climbed and then start a slow turn to the
left. The accident airplane continued to turn left until a large
explosion was observed.
Examination of the crash site revealed the airplane impacted the
taxiway in a nose-down, right wing-low attitude. The airplane
impacted the taxiway on a heading of 340-degrees magnetic and slid
80 feet before coming to rest upright on a 060-degree heading. The
pilot, age 22, held a commercial pilot certificate for airplane
single-engine land, multi-engine land, instrument airplane, which
was last issued on December 16, 2009, and a first-class airman
medical certificate issued on August 14, 2007, with a restriction
that he must wear corrective lenses. A review of the pilot's
logbook indicated that he had accumulated a total time in all
aircraft of 298.2 hours. The pilot's total multi-engine time prior
to the accident flight was 46.7 hours. The pilot's most recent
flight in a multi-engine airplane was November 15, 2009.
The CFI, age 26, held a commercial pilot certificate for
airplane single-engine land, multi-engine land, instrument
airplane, which was last issued on September 16, 2010, and a
first-class airman medical certificate issued on May 22, 2008, with
a restriction that she must wear corrective lenses. The CFI held a
Certificated Flight Instructor certificate for airplane single
engine land, airplane multi-engine land, and instrument airplane. A
review of the pilot’s flight records indicated that she had
accumulated a total flight time in all aircraft of 2,278, and 492
hours in multi-engine airplanes.
Piper Seminole File Photo
The airplane was a four-seat, low-wing, retractable gear, twin
engine airplane, serial number (S/N) 4496249, manufactured on July
2, 2008. It was powered by two Lycoming O/LO-360-A1 H6, (counter
rotating) 180 horse powered engines. A review of the aircraft's
most recent 100-hour inspection found that the inspection had been
performed on October 25, 2010, at an airframe/engines total time of
1,638.3 hours.
A review of recorded weather data from the PBI, automated
weather observation station, elevation 19 feet, revealed at 1753
conditions were winds 200 at 9 knots, visibility 10 statute miles,
clouds scattered 6,000 feet above ground lever (AGL), temperature
24 degrees Celsius, dew-point temperature 13 degrees Celsius,
altimeter 30.12 inches of mercury.
The left wing remained attached to the fuselage. Inboard of the
engine nacelle received fire damage. Outboard of the engine nacelle
had no major damage. The main gear was down and locked and had
impact and fire damage. The fuel cap was in-place and fuel, blue in
color, remained in the fuel tank. The left fuel system fuel lines
were all free from blockage. No fuel was found from the fuel
selector valve forward to the engine driven fuel pump. The electric
fuel pump was removed. The screen was free from blockage and no
fuel was observed. The pump was field tested by applying battery
power and water in the inlet. The pump operated and the water place
in the inlet was observed pumping out of the outlet.
The left aileron remained attached to the wing and had no major
damage. Control continuity was established from the left aileron to
the main cabin area. The outboard section of the left flap remained
attached to the outboard hinge. The inboard section of the flap was
destroyed by fire.
The right wing was destroyed by impact and post impact fire. The
outboard fiberglass wing tip was separated and found along the
debris path. The fuel cap was in-place and the fuel tank was
destroyed by fire. The main gear was down and locked and had impact
and fire damage. The electric fuel pump was removed. The outlet
fitting was separated from the pump. Damage was noted in this area.
The screen was free from blockage and residual fuel was observed on
the bottom of the fuel pump. The pump was field tested by applying
battery power and water in the inlet. The pump operated and the
water place in the inlet was observed pumping out of the
outlet.
The right aileron and flap were destroyed and consumed in the
post impact fire. The aileron bell crank was separated from the
wing. Both aileron cables remained attached to the bell crank.
Aileron control continuity was established from the bell crank to
the main cabin area.
The empennage was destroyed in the post impact fire. The stabilator
and rudder cables were strung over the right wing. Both rudder
cables remained attached to the rudder sector. The rudder trim drum
was separated and destroyed. The top section of the empennage
including the stabilator was separated from the aircraft and
located along the debris path. The stabilator trim drum displayed
3.5 threads which is constant with a neutral trim position.
The fuselage received impact damage and was consumed in the post
impact fire. The cabin roof was separated and destroyed. Forward of
the instrument panel was crushed aft and to the left. Aft of the
rear seats, the fuselage was destroyed and consumed in the post
impact fire. The interior cabin furnishings were consumed in the
fire. All seats were in place.
The landing gear lever was in the down position. The left fuel
lever was found in the off position, one inch aft of the forward
stop, and the right fuel selector was found in the on position. The
fuel selector valves remained attached. The left fuel selector
valve was found in the off position and the right fuel selector
valve was found in the on position. Both valves were field tested
by applying low pressure air and were operational in all positions.
Both fuel gascolator filters were free from blockage. Fuel control
continuity was established from the fuel levers in the cockpit to
the fuel selector valves. All engine control levers were forward
and found approximately one inch aft of the forward quadrant stop,
except the right throttle lever which was found approximately two
inches aft of the forward quadrant stop. Throttle quadrant
continuity was established from the throttle quadrant to their
respective engine controls. The flap handle was bent. The left
engine magnetos were on. The overhead panel and electrical switches
were destroyed. The left carburetor heat lever was in the off
position and the right was in the one position. The rudder trim
indicator was in the neutral position. The pilot function display
(PFD) and the multi function display (MFD) and all radios had
impact and fire damage. The standby instruments, airspeed,
altimeter, and attitude, were all damaged. No airframe anomalies
were found during the on-site examination.
Both propellers separated from each engine from impact overload.
The crankshafts were broken aft of the propeller flange. The right
propeller spinner was crushed and the propeller hub, piston dome,
piston, spring, and counterweights were separated and displaced.
Both blades of the right propeller exhibited torsion twisting
damage and chord-wise scoring.
The left propeller spinner was partially crushed on one side.
Both propeller blades remained attached to the hub one blade had
rotated from the normal pitch position; the internal pitch change
mechanism was broken. The other blade remained in normal pitch
position. Both blades were only slightly damaged. Neither propeller
was in the feathered position.
The right engine remained attached to the airframe firewall
assembly and was displaced aft and to the left, heavy fire damage
was noted, the wing nacelle was essentially destroyed. The engine
mount assembly was buckled. Impact damage was noted on the outboard
side, the exhaust pipes were crushed. The engine accessories
remained attached and secure to the engine and were scorched by
fire. Except for the propeller control which was melted, the engine
control cables remained attached to each respective control arm.
The throttle was in full open position. The mixture control was
full rich. The carburetor heat control was in the cold or off
position. Initial examination of the engine revealed no outward
indication of any mechanical malfunction. The spark plugs were
removed and exhibited tan color combustion deposits. Electrode wear
was moderate and gap settings were normal. Bore-scope examination
of the top end components was unremarkable. The carburetor bowl
drain plug was removed and clean blue fuel was observed.
The right engine was removed from the airframe and the valve
covers, governor, rear mounted components and carburetor was
removed. The engine was rotated using a drive tool adapter inserted
into the governor spline. Rotation of the crankshaft established
internal gear and valve train continuity. All four cylinders
produced compression. Internal gear timing was confirmed. The
magnetos were fire damaged which precluded field testing. The fuel
pump was intact and scorched by fire. The pump contained clean blue
fuel and pumping action was noted when the pump was actuated by
hand. The pump was opened which revealed no internal anomalies. The
accelerator pump was checked and found to operate normally and
expelled fuel. The carburetor fuel inlet screen was removed and
found clean. The carburetor bowl screws were found secured with
safety tabs. The safety taps were opened and the screws were found
to be tight. The carburetor bowl was opened. A residual amount of
blue fuel was found remaining in the carburetor bowl. The
carburetor venturi was intact. The needle valve was checked and
found to operate normally when low-pressure air was applied to the
unit, the float height measured approximately .187 inch. The
carburetor float was composite type. The mixture control valve
operated normally and was removed, the valve components were intact
and secure. The governor oil screen was found clean. The engine oil
filter element and oil suction screen were both found clean. At the
conclusion of the engine examination, no evidence of any pre-impact
mechanical failure or malfunction was found.
The left engine remained attached to the airframe firewall and
was displaced aft, upward, and to the left. Slight fire damage was
noted, the wing nacelle was not heavily damaged. The engine mount
assembly was buckled. Impact damage was noted on the inboard side.
The engine accessories remained attached and secure to the engine
and were slightly scorched by fire. The engine control cables
remained attached to each respective control arm. The governor arm
was approximately .250 inch from the high rpm stop. The throttle
was in full open position. The mixture control was full rich. The
carburetor heat control was in off or cold position.
Initial examination of the left engine revealed no outward
indication of any mechanical malfunction. The spark plugs were
removed and exhibited light gray color combustion deposits.
Electrode wear was moderate and gap settings were normal.
Bore-scope examination of the top end components was unremarkable.
The carburetor bowl drain plug was removed and was found to be void
of fuel.
The left engine was removed from the airframe and the valve
covers, governor, rear mounted components and carburetor was
removed. The engine was rotated using a drive tool adapter inserted
into the governor spline. Rotation of the crankshaft established
internal gear and valve train continuity. All four cylinders
produced compression. Internal gear timing was confirmed. The
magnetos were field tested and produced spark from all towers. The
fuel pump was intact and contained a residual amount of clean blue
fuel and pumping action was noted when the pump was actuated by
hand. The pump was opened which revealed no internal anomalies. The
accelerator pump was checked and found to operate normally however
no fuel was expelled. The carburetor fuel inlet screen was removed
and found clean. The carburetor bowl screws were found secured with
safety tabs. The safety taps were opened and the screws were found
to be tight. The carburetor bowl was opened. No fuel was found
remaining in the carburetor bowl. Blue stains were observed at the
low point of the bowl. The carburetor venturi was intact. The
needle valve was checked and found to operate normally when
low-pressure air was applied to the unit, the float height measured
approximately .187 inch. The carburetor float was metal type. The
mixture control valve operated normally and was removed, the valve
components were intact and secure. The governor oil screen was
found clean. The engine oil filter element and oil suction screen
were both found clean. At the conclusion of the engine examination,
no evidence of any pre-impact mechanical failure or malfunction was
found.
The MFD and PFD received fire damage. The NTSB retained the PFD
and MFD flash cards for further examination.