Even Though Right Engine Had Just Been Reinstalled

Whatever caused an MU-2B-60 to go down in Ferndale (MD) May 14th, it wasn't the engine. So says the NTSB in its preliminary report on the accident. The crash killed the pilot, 34-year old Thomas Lennon.

Epps Air Service Flight 101, an unscheduled 14 CFR Part 135 flight, had been cleared to land at Baltimore-Washington International Airport in VFR weather, according to the report. But that's not what the pilot did, according to the FAA report:

Radar returns revealed that the airplane continued on a westerly track, north of the airport, that bypassed the approach end of runway 33R, but would have been consistent with a modified downwind for runway 15L. Along that track, the airplane descended to 700 feet. Just prior to the abeam position for runway 15L, the airplane began a left turn back toward the southeast. A last radar return occurred in the approximate position of the wreckage site, with an indicated altitude of 200 feet.

Witness Reports

According to the NTSB preliminary report:

Several witnesses noticed the airplane just prior to the accident. One stated that it was "flying abnormally," and initially thought it was a stunt plane. He noticed it making "swaying motions as if it were going to bank left, then right, and back left again." As the airplane neared a tree line, its "nose flipped up and back."

Another witness was standing outside when he noticed the airplane flying "very low" near a high school. It "all of a sudden made a very sharp bank to the left," then "began tilting right, then left, and finally back to left over a 180-degree bank, and directly into the ground."

A third witness reported seeing the wings "straight up and down," while other witnesses reported the airplane "at a 45-degree angle, then rolled to the opposite angle," "pitch and roll violently, falling tail over nose," and "seemed to tip to the left with a sharp turn."

No Mechanical Fault

Finally, the report indicated that the aircraft appeared to be functioning normally just before it hit the ground:

There was no evidence of mechanical failure. All flight control surfaces were accounted for at the scene, and control continuity was confirmed from the cockpit to the tail surfaces, and from the cockpit to the wing separation points. The landing gear and flaps were up. Both engines exhibited signatures consistent with power being produced at the time of impact, including the burnishing of all leading edge impeller vanes, at least one impeller vane bent backwards on each engine, metal spattering on the suction side of the third stage turbine blades, and organic material, including dirt and debris, on the igniters. The spline shafts of both fuel pumps, from the fuel pump to the fuel control units, were intact.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=IAD04FA021&rpt=p