Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mercedita International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ponce, Puerto Rico 00715
Thursday, February 8, 2001 8:10 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses observed the pilot having trouble starting the right engine after refueling. Once the right engine was started it made a popping sound. The pilot proceeded to taxi to the runway and takeoff with the right engine still making a popping sound. The airplane was observed to climb to about 250 to 300 feet with the landing gear still extended. The airplane then began to descend and turn to the right. After turning to a downwind position, the airplane rolled rapidly to the right and descended, impacting the ground in a near vertical attitude. Postcrash examination showed the left propeller was rotating during impact and there was no evidence of failure or malfunction of the left engine. The right propeller showed no evidence of rotating under power at ground impact and the propeller blades were locked on the start latches at the 18 degree position. No evidence of failure or malfunction of the right propeller or propeller governor was found. The right engine assembly showed no evidence of precrash failure or malfunction. The right engine fuel servo had a bent regulator stem which caused sticking of the fuel regulator and abnormal fuel mixtures. The right fuel selector was found off after the accident and the mixture, throttle and propeller controls for the right engine were found in the low midrange position. The landing gear and landing gear control were found in the landing gear extended position. The wing flaps were retracted. The checklist for engine failure requires the pilot to retract the landing gear, maintain at least the single engine minimum control speed, and shutdown the failed engine and feather the propeller.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision to attempt flight with known deficiencies in the airplanes right engine, his failure to feather the right propeller after the engine failed , his failure to retract the landing gear following the engine failure, and his failure to maintain minimum single engine control speed (Vmc), resulting in loss of control of the airplane and impact with the ground during an uncontrolled descent.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/8/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 810 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Ponce |
| Event State | PUERTO RICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00715 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 175947N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0663314W |
| Event Location Airport | Mercedita International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PSE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 150 |
| Airport Elevation | 29 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 750 Atlantic Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PSE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 29 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 12 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 800 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11306 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SAN JUAN |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 8 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 859 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2002 2:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Juan |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N181MM |
| NTSB Number | MIA01FA072 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-30 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30-197 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 70 |
| Airframe Hours | 5202 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MAJ, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 Silverside Road, Suite 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Mario Rodriguez-Mattei |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | Urb Villa Del Caribe A-10 |
| Operator City | Santa Isabel |
| Operator State | PR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 00757 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PSE |
| Departure City | Ponce |
| Departure State | PR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | STT |
| Destination City | St. Thomas |
| Destination State | VI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2001 3:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PREJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12 |
| Runway Length | 6904 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |