Lansing

The pilot landed at the airport to refuel the airplane and pick up cargo. The pilot spoke with three employees of the fixed base operator who stated that he seemed alert and awake but wanted to make a "quick turn." After the airplane was fueled and the cargo was loaded, the pilot departed; the airplane crashed 1 minute later. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. An aircraft performance GPS and simulation study indicated that the airplane entered a right bank almost immediately after takeoff and then made a 42 degree right turn and that it was accelerating throughout the flight, from about 75 knots groundspeed shortly after liftoff to about 145 knots groundspeed at impact. The airplane was climbing about 500 to 700 feet per minute to a peak altitude of about 260 feet above the ground before descending. The simulation showed a gas generator speed of about 93 percent throughout the flight. The study indicated that the load factor vectors, which were the forces felt by the pilot, could have produced a somatogravic illusion of a climb, even while the airplane was descending. The postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Based on the findings from the aircraft performance GPS and simulation study, the degraded visual reference conditions present about the time of the accident, and the forces felt by the pilot, it is likely that he experienced spatial disorientation, which led to his inadvertent controlled descent into terrain.

The pilot was departing from Lansing, Michigan, when he reported engine problems. The aircraft subsequently lost power to both engines. Fuel receipts were found that indicate that the aircraft was serviced with 25 gallons of jet fuel in each wing tank. No preexisting anomalies were found with regard to the aircraft or its systems. An FAA inspector interviewed the person that had fueled the aircraft and that person stated he had used a JET-A fuel truck to fuel the accident aircraft. The inspector also interviewed the safety director of the company that provided the fueling service. The safety director told the inspector that the fuel truck used to fuel the accident aircraft was found to have a small nozzle installed on one of the hoses and not the wide nozzle used on jet fueling trucks. He also said that, '...the small nozzle was used for the purpose of fueling tugs at the airport and that the small nozzles were immediately removed from all jet refueling trucks so that this could not happen again.'

The airplane collided with the tops of trees during an ILS approach near the middle marke. Witnesses heard the airplane strike the trees and a '...whop, whop, whop sound...' it made as it continued its flight. Other witnesses observed the airplane flying a curved, descending, flight path until the aircraft impacted the ground. Visibility was reported as 1/2 mile at the airport. The on-scene examination revealed no airframe or engine anomalies that would prevent flight. A section of the right propeller and other pieces of airframe were found along the approach path after initial impact with trees. The trees along the flight path were about 30 to 60 feet high. The tops of the taller trees were broken or had fresh cut marks on their limbs. The pilot's blood alcohol level was 216 (mg/dL, mg/hg).

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.

The airplane departed in IMC conditions on an IFR flight plan. Shortly after takeoff the pilot told the departure controller he had '...a problem.' The airplane's flight path was a series of left hand turns while performing descents and ascents. Reports of engine sounds varied from high rpm to low rpm. Many witnesses reported the airplane descending out of, and climbing into, clouds. The airplane was observed in a 45° angle descent, right wing low, as it collided with trees and the ground. The on-scene investigation found an intermittent electric gyro system inverter, a broken filament on the inverter power 'out' light bulb, electrically powered gyro's rotors did not have rotational damage, and a vacuum powered attitude indicator rotor with rotational damage. The pilot's toxicology report stated 45 mg/dl of ethanol detected in his muscle tissue.

At rotation the right engine failed. The aircraft entered a skidding turn to the right and continued to climb to about 100 feet agl. During the turn 110° from takeoff. Heading aircraft rolled inverted and descended into a car port. Extensive post impact fire destroyed aircraft, car port and three vehicles. Gear was not retracted and propellers was not feathered. During post accident exam of the right engine extensive internal damage was found. Both occupants were killed.

Few minutes after takeoff from Lansing Airport, while climbing in poor weather conditions, the pilot was cleared to divert to Grand Rapids-Kent County Airport. On approach, the airplane became uncontrollable and crashed. Two passengers were seriously injured while four other occupants were killed.

During a night approach to Iron Mountain Airport, the pilot descended below the MDA when the twin engine airplane struck tree tops and crashed in a wooded area located few hundred yards short of runway threshold. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot, sole on board, was killed.

On a night approach to Iron Mountain-Ford Airport, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions and very limited visibility. On final, he failed to realize his altitude was too low when the airplane struck a dirt bank and crashed in flames. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot, sole on board, was killed.

Just after liftoff, while in initial climb, the twin engine airplane stalled and crashed onto the runway and came to rest. Both occupants were uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.