Need a Good Reason to Do a Preflight or a Runup?

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NTSB Id: NYC98LA102 Date: APR-25-98 Location: New Bedford, MA Aircraft: Piper PA-32-300, Registration: N15326 Injuries: 1 Fatal.

On April 25, 1998, about 2230 Eastern Daylight Time, a Piper PA-32-300, N15326, was substantially damaged during a collision with terrain after takeoff from the New Bedford Airport, New Bedford, Massachusetts. The certificated private pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. According to a witness at the airport, the pilot landed at the New Bedford Airport (EWB) the morning of the accident. Another witness observed the airplane that evening after it took off. The witness stated that the airplane departed runway 5, and after liftoff, it "...went straight up in the air like a acrobat..." The airplane then appeared to level off, turn northwest, then northeast, followed by "a nose dive," and descent to the ground. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector revealed that a control locking device, with a locked pad lock, was installed on the right hand flight control column. The pad lock key was found on the key ring with the airplane's ignition key. The airplane's ignition was off, and the ignition key had been removed. Additionally, the pilot's shoulder harness was not locked in position.

Need I say more? What a tragedy. This is one more reason to do a good preflight to say nothing of a good runup (the kind where you check the controls for free and correct movement). What makes matters even worse is that it's possible to fly an airplane with the controls frozen (locked) into place. This will be the topic for an upcoming article on handling flight control failure.