Update on Louisa, Virginia plane crash into home.
A Cessna 303 Crusader similar to accident aircraft. (Photo by Adrian Pingstone via Wikipedia)
Last week (on March 4, 2010) a Cessna T303 Crusader (registration N9305T) crashed into a Louisa, Virginia home killing James A. Youngquist, the pilot of the aircraft. A person in the home was in the basement at the time and survived the accident. Yesterday, the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary report of the crash. For the original post on this accident, click HERE.
According to the NTSB report, the pilot of the aircraft was departing Louisa County Airport (LKU) and heading to Danville Regional Airport (DAN) in Danville, VA at the time of the accident (12:45 PM EST). He had just flown to LKU from Manassas Regional Airport (HEF) in Manassas, VA and the stop was a refueling one. He departed LKU’s single runway in a westerly direction (runway 27). Witnesses at the airport and near the airport claim to have heard at least one of the engines running very roughly as the plane departed. The witnesses outside the airport reported seeing dark smoke coming from the plane (some say from the right engine, while others stated from the tail) as it made a right turn after takeoff. The plane then rolled left and crashed into the home at 128 Jefferson Highway.
The preliminary report also points out that there was an apparent issue with the right engine’s fuel system in the months preceding the accident. In an annual inspection, the engine was noted as running a little on the high, or hot, side. Further maintenance was done to the engine as it was apparently running rough in cruise. Among other things, the right fuel pump was found to be problematic and sent for a check. It was reinstalled once it was overhauled. It is unclear this early in the investigation if the fuel system problem had anything to do with the accident or if another unrelated failure caused the aircraft to lose power.
It is possible the pilot was trying to deal with the loss of power on takeoff or attempt the difficult landing on Jefferson Highway (Hwy 33) when he lost control and ended up in the house. A loss of power on takeoff is always high workload scenario especially if it appears one of the engines may be one fire. The aircraft is more than capable of single-engine flight, but you have to maintain control, tend to the power loss engine, and tend to the fire shut-off all within a few hundred feet of the ground.
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