Cessna 320E N3438Q

Summary

On 21 June 2005 at about 15:30 local time, a Cessna 320E registered N3438Q, operated by Map Inc., was involved in an accident near Missoula, Montana, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 June 2005 at 15:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Missoula, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Missoula International Airport (MSO)

Coordinates

46.9222, -114.1150

Aircraft

Cessna 320E

Registration

N3438Q

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Map Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Missoula → Missoula

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA05FA124

2 people were seriously injured.

Terrain clearance was not possible as a result of a right engine failure. Factors contributing to the accident included the rising terrain, foreign material being ingested into the engine's turbocharger, which obstructed the turbocharger's impeller, the failure of company maintenance personnel to ensure that the air filter instruction sheet was removed after maintenance had been completed on the airplane, and the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and decision in taking off in excess of the airplane's maximum certificated gross takeoff weight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot noted there were no anomalies with the airplane prior to departure during the preflight and engine runups, and that the takeoff was normal until about 100 to 200 feet above the ground when the right engine lost power. After feathering the right propeller, securing the engine, and establishing a left bank into the operating engine, the airplane began to climb slowly. The pilot then turned about 25 degrees to the left towards a field to avoid some trees. However, due to the initial loss of altitude when the engine lost power the airplane was now below the top of a hill, which the pilot was unable to clear. The airplane subsequently impacted the hill in a slightly right wing low, nose high attitude. The aircraft was consumed by fire, but not before the pilot and his passenger egressed the airplane safely. During the postaccident recovery of the right engine's turbocharger, which had separated from the engine during the impact sequence, various pieces of paper were observed lodged between the turbocharger's impeller and its housing. An examination of the pieces of paper extracted from the turbocharger revealed they were from an air filter instructional sheet. It was also determined that the replacement air filter had been installed on the right engine approximately 4 months prior to the accident, with the airplane having accumulated about 54 hours during that time period. Inspection of a new packaged filter revealed that the instruction sheet (8 1/2 x 11 folded into a quarter sheet), along with a sticker are placed inside the filter canister and the canister is placed in a plastic bag. The sticker was at the bottom of the bag while the instructions were molded to the inside of the filter. The pilot disclosed that the gross weight of the airplane at takeoff was 5,382.6 pounds.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.