WPR20FA065 · Cessna T310 P

The pilot was conducting a personal flight to relocate the twin-engine airplane back to his home base following maintenance. A leak check on the left-wing tip fuel tank was also performed prior to the flight. About 2 1/2 gallons of fuel was added to the tank to perform the leak check. According to a witness, the pilot did not refuel the airplane prior to the accident flight. Another witness reported hearing popping sounds as the airplane approached the destination airport and thought that one of the engines was trying to restart while it flew overhead. The witness also stated that the landing gear and flaps were extended. A third witness saw that the airplane was in a yaw to the left and appeared to be struggling to stay airborne. Subsequently, the airplane’s left wing dropped, the airplane momentarily stabilized, and the left wing dropped again, banking the airplane further to the left. The airplane continued to the left when the nose dropped and was soon out of view.

Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the left propeller blades exhibited minimal rotational signatures, which is consistent with the left engine producing low-to-no power at the time of impact. The visual evidence indicated the left propeller was not feathered at the time of impact, which was counter to procedures indicated for operating with one engine inoperative during flight. The right propeller blades showed evidence of the engine operating at mid-to-low power at the time of impact. Examination of the airframe and engines revealed no evidence of preaccident mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. It is likely that during the flight, the left-wing tip fuel tank’s remaining fuel was exhausted, resulting in the loss of power to the left engine. Available evidence suggests that the left engine shut down during flight due to fuel starvation, resulting in the airplane yawing to the left with a decrease in performance followed by banking left.

The pilot was known to land the airplane on a single engine on multiple occasions. He was also described as not likely to declare a flight emergency because of the paperwork involved. It is likely after he lost power to the left engine, the pilot continued his approach to his destination without declaring an emergency. As the flight continued there was a loss of airspeed, which resulted in the airplane entering multiple aerodynamic stalls, which precipitated the final left turn toward the accident site.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset