CEN13LA361

Factual narrative

On June 20, 2013, about 0930 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-30 airplane, N7017Y, performed a forced landing at the James M Cox Dayton International airport (KDAY) Dayton, Ohio. The private rated pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered Horizon Aviation LLC, Tipp City, Ohio and operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight which operated without a flight plan. The flight was originating at the time of the accident. The pilot reported that during the preflight he found a small amount of water in the right main inboard fuel tank. He checked the other fuel tanks and did not find any water. He rechecked the right main inboard tank again and did not observe any water. He reported that during engine start the right engine stopped, he restarted the engine, and he had to run the right engine's rpm slightly higher during warm up. He added that during the taxi to the runway and during the run-up, the engines performed without hesitation and he did not observe any problems. That pilot stated that the departure roll seemed "sluggish". The airplane started to drift right; he was unable to correct the drift by applying the rudder, so reduced the throttles back to idle. He then elected to conduct a force landing on a closed taxiway, so he added power, in order to reach the taxiway. However, the airplane landed short of the taxiway and impacted a bump in the terrain. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector reported that the airplane's nose and main landing gear had collapsed, the right wing, and the fuselage had sustained substantial damage. Examination of the airplane's engines revealed the fuel servo on the right engine had separated from the engine's intake. Examination of the servo revealed that the facture was consistent with impact damage. The examination did not reveal any abnormalities that would have prevented the engines from producing power. The pilot stated that, during the preflight inspection of the airplane, he found a small amount of water in the right inboard fuel tank. The pilot inspected the other fuel tanks and did not find any water; he then rechecked the right inboard fuel tank and did not find any additional water. During startup, the right engine stopped, but the pilot restarted it and ran it with a higher rpm during warm-up. The pilot stated that the taxi and run-up were performed without hesitation or problems but that the takeoff run seemed "sluggish" and that the airplane then drifted right. The pilot was unable to correct the drift by applying rudder, so he reduced the throttles and chose to perform a force landing on a closed taxiway. The airplane landed short of the taxiway and impacted a bump in the terrain, which caused the landing gear to collapse. Although water in the right engine's fuel tank could have resulted in power loss and the subsequent drift to the right, examination of the airplane did not find any water in the fuel nor any abnormalities that would have prevented the engines from producing power. A reason for the pilot's loss of directional control could not be determined. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

• C Not determined-Not determined-(general)-(general)-Unknown/Not determined - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C