Louisburg-North Raleigh

The airline transport pilot was conducting a cross-country aerial observation flight in the multiengine airplane. The pilot reported that the airplane was on the final leg of the traffic pattern when he reduced the power levers for landing and noticed that the right engine sounded like the propeller was moving toward the beta position. The pilot increased the engine power, and the sound stopped. As the airplane got closer to the runway, he decreased the engine power, and the sound returned. In addition, the airplane began to yaw right. The pilot applied left aileron and rudder inputs to remain above the runway centerline without success. While over the runway, the pilot reduced the engine power to idle, and the airplane continued to yaw right. The pilot applied full power in an attempt to perform a go-around; however, the airplane yawed about 30 degrees off the runway centerline, touched down in the grass, and impacted trees before coming to rest. The right wing, right engine, and right propeller assembly were impact-separated. The right engine propeller came to rest about 50 ft forward of the main wreckage, and it was found in the feathered position. A review of maintenance records revealed that the right propeller had been overhauled and reinstalled on the airplane 2 days before the accident and had operated 9 hours since that time. Subsequent testing of the right propeller governor revealed that it functioned without anomaly; however, the speed settings were improperly configured. Further, the testing revealed that the beta valve travel from the neutral position was out of tolerance. Although this could have let oil pressure port to one side of the spool or the other and, thus, changed the propeller blade angle, it could not be determined whether this occurred during the accident landing. Impact damage precluded examination of the right propeller governor control linkage; therefore, it could not be determined if it was inadequately installed or rigged, which could have resulted in the propeller moving into the beta position. The investigation could not determine why the right propeller moved toward the beta position as engine power was reduced, as reported the pilot.

The flight had proceeded without incident until a visual approach was made to the destination airport, but a landing was not completed because of poor visibility due to ground fog. The pilot then requested vectors to another airport, and was advised by ATC that he was below radar coverage, and he could not be radar identified. The pilot stated he would proceed to a third airport; he was given a heading, instructed to proceed direct to the airport, and report the field in sight. He was told to over-fly the airport, and might be able to descend through a clearing in the clouds. An inbound air carrier flight reported instrument meteorological conditions on the final approach to a parallel runway. At a location of 1.13 miles east of the airport, the flight, for no apparent reason, turned south, away from the airport. The last radio contact with pilot was after ATC told him his heading was taking him away from the airport and he said he was turning back. The last known position of N201RH was 1.95 miles southeast of the airport, at 500 feet MSL. According to the statement of the passenger that was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, "...all we could see were city lights and darkness underneath us. We were in a right turn, when I saw the trees and subsequently hit it." According to the pilot's log book and FAA records revealed a limitation on his commercial pilot certificate prohibited him from carrying passengers for hire at night and on cross-country flights of more than 50 nautical miles. The records did not show any instrument rating. As per the entries in his personal flight logbook, he had accumulated a total of 1,725.2 total flight hours, 1,550.9 total single engine flight hours, and 184.3 total flight hours in multi-engine aircraft of which 145.6 hours were in this make and model airplane. In addition, the logbooks showed that he had a total of 487.3 cross country flight hours, 61.9 total night flight hours, and 21.6 simulated instrument flight hours.