Crystal

After landing at the airport, the airplane was taxied to a fixed base operator to pick up a passenger. Rime ice, as thick as two inches was seen on the airplane, and the pilots of the airplane attempted to manually remove the ice. The airplane was topped off with fuel before departure. During departure from runway 31R, the airplane collided with a fence. Numerous areas of ice were found on the airplane following the accident. Both propellers had similar damage. The pilots had reported to the FAA that the left engine had sustained a loss of power. The passenger reported that he did not notice any loss of power from either engine. No preimpact part failure or malfunction of the left engine was found.

Witnesses observed the aircraft for approximately 8 minutes in erratic diving, climbing, and steep-turning maneuvers which culminated in a 12° descent to the ground. The sound of the engine was heard throughout the sequence and other evidence indicated engine power at impact. The aircraft struck trees, a farm building, farm equipment, and a vehicle, then burst into flames. The wreckage was strewn along a 320 feet path. No evidence of flight control malfunction was found. The pilot claimed an upset stomach before the flight. The pilot's speech was slurred in radio transmissions. The pilot did not respond to the last radio call from Sioux Falls tower. No emergency or distress calls were received from the pilot. The postmortem examination of the pilot did not identify specific impairment but was limited due to the severity of the impact and fire damage.

Shortly after takeoff, on the last leg on it's flight, the engine of the air cargo aircraft started to sputter. The pilot turned the fuel selector handler from the left tank to another position and turned on the boost pump. The engine stopped running and the pilot elected to land in a public park. The left wing was torn off the aircraft during the emergency landing. Investigation revealed that the fuel selector had been turned to the 'off' position, a check of the fuel quantity in each tank showed less than five gallons in the left tank and about twelve gallons in the right tank. Sole on board, the pilot was slightly injured.

During a night takeoff from a snow covered runway at Crystal Airport, the twin engine airplane drifted off, collided with trees and crashed, bursting into flames. The pilot was seriously injured while both passengers were killed. At the time of the accident, the visibility was below minimums due to fog and snow falls.