Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain

The pilot departed on a night multiple-leg flight series with full tanks. On approach for the second landing, the green landing gear lights extinguished. The pilot discovered that if the landing gear was extended the circuit breaker would stay in and if the landing gear was retracted the circuit breaker would pop. The circuit breaker controlled the landing gear lights, the engine oil pressure, and both fuel quantity gauges. The pilot continued on four additional flights in that condition. The fourth flight terminated 5 miles from the runway with a double power loss. Examination revealed the fuel tanks were empty. The pilot had flown the airplane 4.3 hours including 6 takeoffs, one missed approach, and a 20 minute ground run prior to departure with both engines running on the final flight.

The pilot departed from an intersection 2,100 feet from the approach end of the 6,700 feet long runway. Immediately after takeoff the right engine failed. The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge that he feathered the right propeller, and began a wide right turn away from terrain in an attempt to return to the airport. He stated the airspeed did not reach 90 knots, the airspeed and altitude slowly decayed, and the airplane was ditched into smooth water. After recovery, the cowl flaps were found in the 50% open position. No anomalies were found with the fuel system. The airplane departed with full fuel tanks, at a takeoff weight estimated at 6,606 pounds. The right engine was disassembled and no mechanical anomalies were noted. The best single engine rate of climb airspeed is 106 knots, based on cowl flaps closed, and a five degree bank into the operating engine.

The pilot, sole on board, departed Tangier on a delivery flight to Saint Peter-La Villiaze, Guernsey Island, where the aircraft should be taken over by another crew to be ferried to Iceland. While approaching the Channel Islands, the pilot informed ATC about technical problems and elected to divert to Jersey Airport. Shortly later, after both engines stopped due to a fuel exhaustion, the plane lost height and crashed in the sea about 3 nm northwest of Jersey Island. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was killed.

At 0525 eastern daylight time, a Piper Navajo PA-31, registration C-GUVK, serial number 31-7405451, with two pilots on board, took off from Dorval Airport, Quebec, on a three-day charter flight. Two passengers boarded at Rouyn, Quebec, travelling to La Grande Rivière, Quebec. All flight segments over the three-day period were planned in accordance with instrument flight rules. At La Grande Rivière, the aircraft completed a VOR/DME approach to runway 31, but could not land due to weather. A missed approach was executed, and the aircraft proceeded toward the alternate airport, La Grande 4. About 15 nautical miles north of La Grande 3, the engines misfired. The fuel selector lever was reselected, and the engines operated normally for about five minutes, and then stopped. The pilot-in-command declared an emergency and proceeded toward La Grande 3 Airport for an LOC/DME approach to runway 29. The aircraft broke through the cloud layer at approximately 300 feet above ground level and the pilot set the aircraft down in some trees beside a small lake, four nautical miles southeast of La Grande 3 Airport. The accident occurred at 0957. One of the two passengers sustained minor leg injuries. The other occupants were uninjured. They were rescued by helicopter approximately 45 minutes later. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The airplane was on a VFR dusk cross-country flight when it collided with the 1,500-foot level of a hill. Radar data showed the aircraft in a descent from 2,000 feet until radar contact was lost about 1,500 feet msl, with a final ground speed of 194 knots. The route taken by the pilot was about 5 miles west of the route that the company pilots routinely flew, but while crossing higher terrain, it was a more direct route to the destination. A company pilot flying a few minutes ahead of the accident flight reported it was necessary to descend to between 1,200 and 1,500 feet msl in order to maintain VFR. A low-pressure system approaching the area from the west had resulted in low stratus, rain, and fog. At the time of the accident, a nearby weather reporting facility reported a 1,300-foot broken ceiling with 5- to 6-mile visibility in light rain and mist. On the evening of the accident, the pilot was scheduled to give a speech as her final examination in an evening college course. She had informed the instructor that she might be late, but had been told that he could not hold the class past its scheduled dismissal time to accommodate her late arrival.

The Piper Navajo Chieftain PA-31-350, serial number 31-8252042, was on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight from Sanikiluaq to Iqaluit, Northwest Territories. Two pilots and two passengers were on board. After checking the runway condition and weather, the pilot commenced his take-off run on runway 27. After take-off, the pilot saw flames coming out of the right engine cowl. The right engine was shut down but the aircraft could not maintain a sufficient rate of climb, and it crashed on flat, snow-covered ground about one mile from the end of the runway. The aircraft sustained substantial damage on landing. After the aircraft came to a stop, the occupants evacuated via the left front door and walked back to the airport terminal for shelter and assistance. There were no injuries. The occurrence happened at night in instrument meteorological conditions.

The Airco Aircraft Charters Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain, serial number 31-8152096, had been chartered by Northern Sky Aviation to complete a daily passenger flight from the Edmonton City Centre Airport to High Level, Rainbow Lake, Edmonton, and Calgary, Alberta. The flight from Edmonton to High Level and Rainbow Lake was uneventful. Following a routine landing and turn around, the aircraft departed Rainbow Lake in darkness, at 1935 mountain standard time (MST), on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight to Edmonton. Shortly after take-off from runway 27, the aircraft collided with trees and terrain approximately 3 000 feet west of the departure end of the runway. The nine occupants sustained minor injuries and the aircraft was substantially damaged. Immediately following the evacuation of the aircraft, a Rainbow Lake passenger initiated the local emergency response by cell phone. Volunteer ground rescue personnel organized a snowmobile search, and a helicopter was dispatched from the airport to conduct an aerial search. The ground search was hampered by darkness, dense forest, cold temperatures, and deep snow. The helicopter pilot located the aircraft wreckage on his first pass over the departure corridor and, following his immediate return to the airport, he lead the ground rescuers to the accident site. Rescuers reached the accident site approximately one and one-half hours after the occurrence and assisted all of the survivors to the Rainbow Lake nursing station.

On January 9, 1998, at 1935 hours Philippines local time, a Piper PA-31, N4111M, reportedly experienced a loss of engine power and crashed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila, Philippines. The aircraft was substantially damage the airline transport rated pilot and copilot were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed for the night ferry flight to Saipan in the Marianas, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed. The pilot stated that after completing a preflight they had been cleared to taxi to the active runway. The pilot requested a full length takeoff from runway 06. Approximately 75 feet after lifting off from the ground, the pilot requested that the copilot retract the landing gear. The pilot reported that shortly after the landing gear was raised the aircraft yawed sharply to the right. He lowered the nose to regain some of the airspeed that was lost due to the right yaw. He stated that they were losing airspeed and altitude quickly, and asked the copilot to extend the landing gear. The pilot reported that on landing he had the power on until they contacted the runway. The aircraft slid to the left and came to rest after striking a concrete ditch. A test flight of the accident aircraft had been conducted 2 days and on the day before the accident. The purpose of the test flights were to check the propellers that had been overhauled, and to obtain a ferry permit from the Federal Aviation Administration's Designated Airworthiness Representative (DAR). The DAR found the aircraft to be within required specifications. He made the appropriate entry into the aircraft's logbook and issued the ferry authorization.

On 1 November 1997 at 09:46 hours 5H-AZM took off from Nairobi Wilson airport, for a visual flight rules flight to Zanzibar International Airport, Tanzania. It was carrying one pilot and some cargo. There were no passengers. The flight plan indicated that the aircraft had 0330 hours of fuel on departure. The pilot planned' to fly a direct route to Zanzibar with Dar-es-salaam International airport as his alternate aerodrome. After take off from Nairobi Wilson, the flight transited the southern axis lane of the Nairobi control Zone to the zone boundary. The pilot checked the Nairobi zone boundary with Nairobi Wilson Tower and was instructed by air traffic control to contact the Nairobi Control Centre. No contact was reported established by Nairobi Control with 5H-AZM. 5H-AZM contacted the Kilimanjaro Control Tower at 10:20 hours and passed his own ward estimates as Flight Information Region 10:25 hours and arrival at Zanzibar at 11:40 hours. 5H-AZM was advised that there was no reported traffic for the flight in the Kilimanjaro Terminal Control area at 'the VFR flight level 115, and at the same time instructed the aircraft to contact Dar-es-salaam Control on 119.6 MHz when in range. No further transmission was received from the aircraft. It also failed to arrive in Zanzibar. Unfruitful formal searches (involving communications, aerial and ground searches) were mounted on 3 November 1997 along the probable route area in Kenya and Tanzania. The formal search was terminated on 4 December 1997 and there after the missing aircraft incident was considered to be an 'accident. Wreckage was eventually located in the Kibo Crater near the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania on 28 August 2003, almost six years later. The wreckage of the Piper PA 31-350 was found at 15,400 feet on the Kibo wing. It was also 30 nautical miles west of its projected track. The aircraft had earlier been cleared to climb from 9,500 feet to 11,500 feet under visual flight rules.

The aircraft was being operated on a trans-Pacific ferry flight. A special flight permit authorized a gross weight increase and ferry fuel tanks had been installed along with long range communication and navigation radios. The pilot reported that when 85 miles from the departure airport, the right engine failed and he was unable to restart it. Power from the remaining engine was insufficient to maintain level flight at the overweight condition and the pilot permitted the aircraft to drift down until it was necessary to ditch in the ocean 28 miles offshore. The pilot had departed and returned to Hawaii twice previously. The first time he returned due to an oil leak on the left engine, and the second time because of a loose window. A mechanic who repaired the window reported that the left engine appeared to still be leaking oil. Both pilots told the FAA inspector that the oil leak had been repaired.