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FTW91FA043

1991-02-22 · TULSA, Oklahoma, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport TUL

N274MA has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (PIPER PA-28-181, built 2024), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE SHUTDOWN OF ONE ENGINE FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS, AND THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN VMCA DURING A CRITICAL PHASE OF FLIGHT. A FACTOR IN THE ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOT'S IMPROPER EMERGENCY PROCEDURE.

Factual narrative

AIRPLANE WAS DEPARTING ON A REQUIRED MAINTENANCE TEST FLIGHT FOLLOWING REPLACEMENT OF BOTH ENGINES. WITNESSES STATED THAT THE TAKEOFF ROLL AND INITIAL CLIMB APPEARED NORMAL, BUT THAT AT ABOUT 500 FT AGL, THE AIRPLANE ENTERED A RIGHT BANK WHICH CONTINUED UNTIL THE WINGS WERE VERTICAL AND THE NOSE FELL THROUGH. AIRPLANE IMPACTED IN AN INVERTED STEEP NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE. EXAMINATION OF WRECKAGE REVEALED THAT THE RIGHT ENGINE HAD BEEN SECURED AND FEATHERED. SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION DID NOT REVEAL ANY EVIDENCE OF PRE-IMPACT FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF EITHER ENGINE OR ANY OF THE AIRFRAME SYSTEMS. ENGINE MOUNTING/RIGGING CONTINUITY COULD NOT BE ESTABLISHED DUE TO IMPACT DAMAGE. THE PILOT WAS A PRINCIPAL IN THE OPERATOR'S ORGANIZATION AND NOT ONE OF THE REGULAR LINE PILOTS. EVIDENCE INDICATED THAT THE GEAR WAS UP AND THAT THE LEFT SPOILER WAS DEPLOYED AT IMPACT. EMERG PROCEDURE TAUGHT IN TRANSITION TRAINING IS TO USE RUDDER TRIM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER ENG FAILURE TO PRECLUDE DEPLOYMENT OF SPOILERS. RUDDER TRIM FOUND IN NEUTRAL POSITION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_FTW91FA043.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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