Beverly Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Beverly, Massachusetts 01915
Monday, June 20, 2005 12:05 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was test flying the airplane after recent maintenance was performed on the engines. During initial climbout, the left engine began to surge, and most of its power was lost. The air traffic control tower radioed to the pilot that heavy black smoke was trailing from the left engine, and that he was cleared to return to the airport. The pilot initiated a left turn, and continued to climb to approximately 600 feet. He then initiated a "short approach" back to the airport because he believed that the left engine might have been on fire. The airplane touched down "hard" in a grass area to the right of the runway, rolled across a taxiway, and sheared off the landing gear, before coming to rest. The pilot additionally stated on the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, Recommendation (How Could This Accident Have Been Prevented), "Possibly more single engine training, and on a regular basis to stay more proficient." After the accident, the left engine was examined and test run, with no abnormalities noted.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to attain the proper touchdown point while conducting a precautionary landing. A factor was the partial loss of power to one engine for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/20/2005
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1205
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Beverly
Event State MASSACHUSETTS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 01915
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 423503N
Event Location Longitude 0705459W
Event Location Airport Beverly Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BVY
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 107
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1153 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID BVY
Elevation of weather observation facility 107
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 170
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.24
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20376
NTSB Notification Source NROC
NTSB Notification Date Jun 20 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 3 2006 2:46PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Boston, MA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N615SN
NTSB Number NYC05LA103
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-31-350
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 31-8052094
Certified Max Gross Weight 7386
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 10
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 2.8
Airframe Hours 3394.6
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Northeast Equipment Leasing Corp
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Somerville
Aircraft Owner State MA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 02145
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Dana Lake
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City West Newbury
Operator State MA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 01985
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) Flight Test
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code BVY
Departure City Beverly
Departure State MA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 23 2006 2:12PM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 16
Runway Length 4634
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --