Pilatus PC-12 Safety Record

The pilot’s loss of control due to spatial disorientation while operating in night instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in an in-flight breakup. Contributing to the accident was the disengagement of the autopilot for undetermined reasons, as well as the operator’s insufficient flight risk assessment process and lack of organizational oversight.

The pilot's failure to maintain airplane control due to spatial disorientation during the initial climb after takeoff in night instrument flight rules conditions.

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane while in instrument meteorological conditions following a reported instrumentation failure for undetermined reasons.

(1) the pilot's failure to ensure that a fuel system icing inhibitor was added to the fuel before the flights on the day of the accident; (2) his failure to take appropriate remedial actions after a low fuel pressure state (resulting from icing within the fuel system) and a lateral fuel imbalance developed, including diverting to a suitable airport before the fuel imbalance became extreme; and (3) a loss of control while the pilot was maneuvering the left wing-heavy airplane near the approach end of the runway.

The pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed to avoid a stall during an instrument final approach to land, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/spin. Factors associated with the accident are the inadvertent stall/spin, the pilot's failure to follow procedures/directives, and clouds.

Failure of the fuel control unit (FCU) bellows which resulted in a significant loss of engine power and the pilot's encounter with unsuitable terrain during the subsequent forced landing. A contributing factor was the pilot's inadvertent exceedence of the engine temperature limitations during use of the manual override (MOR) system. Additional factors were the roadway and the utility poles struck during the forced landing.

The pilots failure to properly recover from a stalled/mush/high sink rate condition during an approach and attempted aborted landing into a gusting crosswind, resulting in a hard touchdown, bounced landing, loss of directional control and in-flight collision with adjacent brush and trees.

A power loss, due to failure of the No. 1 bearing, which was a result of previous electrical discharge damage (EDD). Factors were the low ceiling and a wet runway.

The pilot's spatial disorientation while turning in a cruise climb in instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot's loss of aircraft control, and his failure to recover from a resultant tight descending spiral.

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from another parked airplane while taxiing. Contributing factors were the night light conditions, and the pilot's fatigue from a long day.