Cessna 414 Safety Record

The pilot’s failure to properly set the elevator trim before takeoff, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall during takeoff.

The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack and failure to maintain proper airspeed during a turn to final, resulting in an aerodynamic stall and subsequent impact with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s distraction due to a non-critical radio anomaly.

The failure of the nose landing gear to fully extend and lock into position for reasons that could not be determined, which resulted in its collapse during landing.

The failure of the owner to comply with a service bulletin, which resulted in the failure of the left main landing gear torque tube due to fatigue cracking.

The pilot/mechanic’s failure to properly secure two airplane avionics units, which resulted in the trays supporting the units to sag downward and become lodged in the movement area of the elevator bellcrank during the accident takeoff.

The pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection during which he failed to detect a flight control abnormality, and his failure to expediently abort the takeoff, which resulted in the co-pilot performing a delayed aborted takeoff and the subsequent runway overrun.

The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed during a circling instrument approach procedure, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall and spin.

The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control after entering instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) while climbing due to spatial disorientation, which resulted in the exceedance of the airplane’s design stress limits and subsequent in-flight break-up. Contributing to accident was the pilot's improper decision to conduct the flight under visual flight rules and to continue the flight when conditions deteriorated.

The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed while maneuvering in the traffic pattern which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and subsequent spin at a low altitude, which the pilot was unable to recover from.

The pilot's diverted attention during the landing approach, which resulted in his failure to configure the landing gear and a subsequent a gear-up landing.

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during the instrument approach in night instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall/spin. Contributing to the accident were pilot fatigue, the pilot's increased workload during the instrument approach resulting from the lack of glideslope guidance due to an inadequately connected/secured glideslope antenna cable, and the airplane being loaded aft of its balance limit.