LAX03FA093 · Piper PA-30

The multiengine airplane descended in a nose down attitude while spinning and collided with flat level terrain. The accident occurred just after sunset during civil twilight in good visual meteorological conditions. Both occupants were pilots and were ejected during the impact sequence and seating positions could not be determined. A ground witness at the airport reported that he knew the owner and could recognize him on sight; as the airplane traveled by his location he noted that the owner was seated in the right seat. Based on the available information, investigators could not ascertain who was the flying pilot at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed, and family and friends of both pilots were not aware that the men had intended to fly that day, nor what the purpose of any flight would have been. The airplane owner held an airline transport pilot certificate with a multiengine rating and certified flight instructor certificate with a single engine rating. The passenger held a private pilot certificate with a single engine land rating. Airborne witnesses observed the accident airplane in turning maneuvers, but noted no apparent problems with the airplane. They did not see the accident occur; however, when they looked back towards the area where the accident airplane had been maneuvering, they observed the flashing lights of fire trucks on the ground. A ground witness reported that he saw an airplane spinning in a nose down attitude out of the corner of his eye. When he looked at the airplane, it made two more tight turns and then dropped out of his line of sight. The next thing he saw was a dust cloud. Both engines were buried into the ground at a 70-degree angle to the horizontal and the fuselage was torsionally twisted to the left over it's entire length. The airframe and engines were inspected with no mechanical anomalies noted that would have precluded normal operation.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset