Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Boca Ration Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Boca Raton, Florida 33432
Thursday, July 12, 2001 17:35 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Just after takeoff the pilot reported that the left engine lost power. He checked that the mixture, propellers, and throttles were all full forward, and that the fuel selector was "on." He said, "...I checked the fuel selectors by feel only." He recycled the left engine feather control and made the decision to land gear up. He retracted the landing gear, and attempted to feather the left engine again without success. At this point he could not maintain altitude or airspeed, estimated that his altitude was "between 150-200 feet," and the airspeed had decayed to 78 knots (83 was Vmc). He elected to land on an interstate highway, before the airplane started a Vmc roll. He landed in a southerly direction on the northbound lanes of the highway, first striking a light pole with the left wing, and then seven vehicles. After coming to a stop, the two occupants evacuated the airplane after the passenger said he was "in a puddle of fuel." The pilot stated that he "..…reached down and moved the fuel selectors back. They were full forward in the 'on' position. I missed the 'off ' and mistakenly moved them to crossfeed as I exited the airplane." Examination of the fuel selectors at the crash site revealed that both engine fuel selectors were in the "crossfeed" position. The left engine was test run, and no discrepancies were found. Fuel was found in the left engine. The fuel was visually examined for contamination and water, none was observed. Examination of the right engine revealed, no discrepancies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power, and the pilot unable to feather the propeller for undetermined reasons, which resulted in a forced landing on a highway, subsequent impact with a pole and vehicles.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/12/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1735 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Boca Raton |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33432 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 262242N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0800627W |
| Event Location Airport | Boca Ration |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KBCT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 230 |
| Airport Elevation | 13 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1733 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 50 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BCT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 13 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 26 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| 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) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1822 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 12 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 12 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 12 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11828 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NTSB Com Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 12 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1745 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 4 2002 9:52AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Lauderdale FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3054J |
| NTSB Number | MIA01LA182 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-34-200T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 34-79700065 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4570 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 27 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 121 |
| Airframe Hours | 4973 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mrx Aviation Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1224 Windsor Ave |
| Aircraft Owner City | Longwood |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32750 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Kenneth B. Miller |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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 | BCT |
| Departure City | Boca Raton |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1734 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SFB |
| Destination City | Sanford |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 14 2002 1:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 6267 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |