Cessna 340

On his second visit to Marshfield Airstrip, the pilot noted that the surface wind was blowing from 300°, across the 880 yard long grass strip which is oriented 08/26. He recalled that the strip had a significant slope which he thought was iphill on runway 08 and he decided to land in that direction to take advantage of the deceleration gained by landing uphill. The pilot made two approached to the strip followed by go-arounds during which he assessed the strength of the crosswind which was stronger than forecast. On the third approach the aircraft cleared trees close to the runway threshold and touched down between one third and one half of the way along the strip. The pilot stated that touchdown in this area was a deliberate decision on his part which was justified by the aircraft's ability to stop quickly on an uphill grass surface. Unfortunately, he had in fact landed in the downhill, downwind direction and was unable to stop the aircraft on the wet grass before the end of the strip. The aircraft passed through a low, dry stone wall at the end of the grass at a speed of 15 knots and came to rest some 10 metres beyond it after all three landing gears had collapsed rearwards. No one was hurt and there was no fire; all the occupants were able to leave the aircraft through the normal exit door. §

The pilot was cleared for an instrument approach to the airport. Once clear of clouds, the pilot was observed circling at low altitude on a closed left downwind for runway 30. Witnesses observed that on the turn from base to final, a very steep angle of bank was established as the engine power was heard being increased. Control was lost and the airplane impacted the ground inverted in a nose low attitude. A post impact fire consumed the airplane. The weather at the airport was reported as 900 overcast with 2 miles visibility in fog and haze with a light mist. Official sunset was one minute prior to the impact. Both occupants were killed.

The airplane was cruising at 16,500 feet at night when radar and radio contact were lost. The pilot made no distress radio calls. Recorded radar data showed the airplane in a left descending turn. Other airplanes were deviating around weather in the area. Ground witnesses heard the airplane prior to impact and reported rain. The pilot started flying lessons in march and received his multi-engine rating in june. He had a total of 142 hours flight time, with 25 hours in this make and model airplane and 9 hours total night time. The pilot was not instrument rated.

The airplane became missing while on an IFR flight in instrument conditions from Yakutat, Alaska to Anchorage, Alaska. There was not further radio communication with the airplane after the pilot reported level at his assigned altitude of 12,000 feet msl. After listening to FAA air traffic control tapes of communications with the pilot, his wife stated that several minutes after the point which the FAA said was the last transmission from the pilot, she heard her husband say something about '6,000' and 'icing conditions'. An enhancement examination of the tapes by the FBI laboratory failed to confirm this information. Aircraft damage and occupant injuries are presumed.

On final approach the pilot reported an engine failure. He said he was putting the landing gear down. The airplane crashed 3 miles from the airport. Examination of the engines revealed no discrepancies. The pilot did not feather the propeller after the engine failure. He had no training in this airplane or any other multi-engine airplane in over 5 years. His last before was in a Cessna 172. It was reported that the pilot did not manage the airplane fuel system in the recommended manner. A witness said the pilot used fuel from the main tanks until they were nearly empty. He ignored forecasts of light icing conditions and during his flight he reported ice accumulation. All five occupants were killed.

Returning to the pilot's home base airport, the pilot indicated that he overflew the uncontrolled field and then entered the traffic pattern for runway 26 which was over 4,400 feet long. The pilot reported that he observed the wind sock was parallel to the runway but failed to initially observe that he was landing with a nearly direct 20 to 25 knot tailwind. The airplane touched down long, overran the runway's departure end, collided with a pole and caught on fire. All three occupants escaped with minor injuries.

On arrival at Longleat, the aircraft made a circuit of the landing area, which was a section of private road closed to the public. During this circuit, the pilot commented to his passengers that the road might be too narrow for the aircraft, which had a mainwheel track width of 3,93 meters. The road is 5,4 meters wide and, on this occasion, was bounded on both sides with wet grass. The wind was southerly and the landing direction was 155° (M). Landing Distance Available was 973 meters. On short final approach to land after a second circuit of the intended landing place, the aircraft encountered windshear at 200 feet agl, and touched down on the grass 1,6 metre to the left of the landing strip, striking the left propeller and the tail skid on the ground. The aircraft then struck a 'No Parking' sign and, 48 metres further on, as the landing gear started to sink into the soft ground, the right propeller also contacted the ground. The aircraft came to rest in another 64 metres. There was no fire, but one of the passenger seat back collapsed at some stage of the landing or the roll-out, resulting in a minor back injury to one of the passengers. He was taken to the local hospital but was released the same evening.

During the night cross country flight at FL250, the pilot elected to leave the cockpit area and move to the rear of the aircraft to attend to physiological needs. Although oxygen was available in the cockpit, supplemental oxygen was not available in the rear. The aircraft was operated with a known pressurization system deficiency which limited the airplane to flight to 17,000 feet msl while maintaining a cabin altitude of 10,000 feet. After 2 hours and 10 minutes, atc declared the flight to be 'no radio'. At 3 hours and 57 minutes after departure, the airplane was plotted on radar in a descending left turn to ground impact. Fuel starvation resulted in power loss to the left engine. Propeller signatures indicated power on the right propeller at impact. The pilot's body was found in the aft cabin area on the aft cabin bulkhead.

According to witnesses, the weather was changing from minute to minute as the aircraft was arriving. Witnesses reported the wind was blowing from east to northeast at 10 to 15 knots, rain fall was varying from strong to periods of light rain, and the ceiling (cloud level) was variable. The pilot began an ILS runway 36 approach; however, before reaching the airport, the aircraft collided with trees and crashed about 2 miles short of the runway. The pilot was seriously injured and could not remember the accident, but did recalled receiving a wind shear alert. The pilot reported an intermittent problem with the autopilot heading mode; however, no other preimpact malfunction or failure of the acft was evident. All five occupants were injured, two seriously.

The pilot in the right seat had hired the pilot in the left seat to ferry the airplane to Germany, then to Turkey. A four tank ferry fuel system was installed but a weight and balance check was not made. During the tkof, the aircraft would not climb. Afterward the airplane was computed to have been overweight and the cg was aft of the rear limit. The left wing hit trees and the right wing hit two fences. After colliding with the terrain, the airplane burned. Both occupants were killed.