United States of America

The aircraft departed Hilo on the last leg of a three flight. A few minutes after takeoff, the pilot called the tower to ask for return and indicated he had a difficulty. No further transmission was made. Witnesses heard intermittent engine sputtering and then the whine of a high speed dive. The aircraft impacted in a sugar cane field at a steep angle. Both pilots were killed.

While descending near the destination, the left engine stopped running. The pilot attempted two airstarts which were unsuccessful. He feathered and secured the left engine and requested radar vectors to the nearest airport. A visual approach was made to the hunt airport at Portland, TX. The pilot stated that he was having no difficulty in maintaining airspeed even with the gear down until he was on final approach. On short final, he extended full flaps. He stated that as soon as he put the flap handle down, he realized he made a mistake, but it was too late to take any action to prevent the aircraft from landing Short. The aircraft touched down on rising terrain between the end of the runway and a nearby shoreline, traveled up the embankment and onto the runway, then burned. The pilot escaped with only minor injuries. The fire damaged left engine was disassembled, but no preimpact failure was found. Reportedly, the plane had not been flown since Feb 82. Before takeoff, the battery was dead. The pilot was slightly injured.

The aircraft was the second aircraft of a flight of two. The lead aircraft had received radio clearance for takeoff. The lead aircraft was to proceed to a visual checkpoint northwest of the airport and wait for this aircraft to join up. Witnesses observed the aircraft depart runway 17 and remain at low altitude. A left turn was completed with the aircraft passing over the witnesses at low altitude. They saw the pilot looking from side to side just prior to the aircraft colliding with a radio tower/antenna. The aircraft crashed and the pilot, sole on board was killed.

During arrival, the pilot was cleared for an ILS approach to runway 20L. The pilot stated that the approach was normal in moderate to heavy rain and he broke out at about 800 ft agl. He crossed the end of the runway with full flaps, was high, and touched down near the intersection of runway 20l and runway 27. This intersection was about 3,100 ft beyond the approach end of runway 20L. After touchdown, the aircraft continued off the end of the runway, went over an embankment and came to rest about 50 ft beyond the runway in soft mud. During the investigation white tire marks were found near the end of the runway. These marks resembled those made by hydroplaning action. The pilot stated he had trouble seeing the runway and that windshield wipers would have been helpful.

During the weather briefing the pilot was advised that VFR flight was not recommended due to low ceilings and poor visibility. The pilot responded he had to go to Fort Payne VFR because they have no instrument approach. A Jeppesen US (lo) 29 low alt enroute chart was found at the wreckage that had a line drawn traversing southwest out of the Chattanooga VOR between V-115 and V-115e. The MEA for these airways was 4,000 ft msl. Prior to departure the pilot as advised that tops were reported 4,500 ft with another layer at 9,000 ft. The pilot responded he was going to Fort Payne and they had no approach there. Approximately 2-1/2 min after takeoff the pilot reported "...looks like about 1500 is all we're gonna get right now." About 7 min later the pilot reported they were still VFR but might want to turn around. The aircraft impacted the top of a north/south ridge line at an elevation of 2,020 feet. The copilot was part of the company's management team. A passenger was seriously injured while six other occupants were killed.

The pilot was trying to land after both engines failed during takeoff after the aircraft was refueled with jet fuel instead of gasoline. The weather was IFR with fog, low ceiling and rain. The aircraft collided with trees during a forced landing and was destroyed by fire after impact. All three occupants were killed.

The purpose of the flight was to prepare for a FAA part 135 air taxi check ride which was scheduled later that week. The aircraft was observed during the approach with one engine shut down. During the turn to final the aircraft crashed half a mile from runway 28. All five occupants were killed.

As the pilot was descending from 7,000 to 5,000 feet, he heard a loud bang, followed by a temporary vibration and a violent swerve to the right. He looked out the right window and thought the right engine had fallen off since all he could see was the tops of the engine mounts. The aircraft was controllable only after reducing the left engine power to idle. During a wheels up/forced landing, the plane tore through a fence, slid across a paved road, went over an embankment and began burning after it came to rest. The pilot received a back injury and had difficulty egressing. An investigation revealed the propeller hub had failed from fatigue which resulted in blade separation and subsequent engine tearaway. The engine had remained attached to the airframe by cables. Metallurgical examination of the hub revealed that the fatigue originated at a threaded grease fitting. Gouging was visible on the inner wall. A set of incorrect counterweights were found on the propeller. The counterweight's function was to reduce vibration.

The aircraft had been on sales demonstration flights and was on a delivery flight from Memphis, TN to Dallas, TX. The plane was observed departing at 1550 CDT in a max performance climb. Radar info from mode C of the transponder returns indicated that the aircraft climbed from 1,000 to 16,000 feet in 7 min and 14 seconds. Level flight was indicated at 16,300 ft from 1558:16 to 1601:17 CDT. The last alt return was from 16,000 ft at 2201:07. Two more returns were received at 2201:49 and 2202:08, but with no altitude readout. At about that time, the aircraft was observed spiraling down, counterclockwise, with a portion of the left wing missing. The wing tip (outer wing panel outboard from about wing station 190), left aileron and left engine tail cone panel were found about 3 miles from the main wreckage impact point. An examination revealed that the wing panel separation occurred upward from positive overload forces. No evidence was found of fatigue or pre-existing failure. Light to moderate turbulence was reported between 14,000 and 18,000 ft msl. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

At approximately 90 knots after liftoff from a touch-and-go the copilot, who was flying from the left seat, indicated problems with the right engine. The pilot had been observing trucks on the right side of the runway. He stated they could have set it back down except he thought they might swerve into the trucks. He was not specifically looking at the instruments because of the trucks. He took control and the aircraft settled adjacent to the runway and burst into flames. Inspection of the right engine revealed all but one of the 12 spark plugs were sooty. The plugs were installed in a new engine and the engine obtained takeoff rpm.