A baron 58 pilot experienced a rough running engine while at cruise at 7000 feet. He feathered the e...

Narrative:

I was on an IFR flight plan at a cruise altitude of 7;000 feet. Everything was normal on run up; take off; climb and level off. I had just leveled off and had completed the cruise check. All gauges indicated normal and in the green with no indication of a problem. After about 5-10 minutes at cruise; the right engine started to cough/sputter. At first I thought it was water passing thru the fuel line. Engine instruments still showed normal. The engine didn't show any improvement; so I moved the fixture control forward for more fuel. It did not help; so I moved the boost pump to the on position. The engine continued to get rougher in operation. I then advised ATC that we had an engine problem and needed the closest airport available. At this time; I feathered the engine. ATC advised that K39 (st claire) or uuv (sullivan) was the closest. I asked for K39 and considered uuv because it had a better and longer runway plus I thought K39 was closed. I started to ask for uuv when ATC indicated uuv was 8 miles away. At about the same time; ATC also indicated we were over K39 so I decided to stay with the original plan and land at K39. During descent; I advised ATC I was trying to restart the right engine but would not restart. Descent was continued thru an overcast layer estimated to be around 3;000 feet with vectors to the airport. Got a visual on the airport and runway. Descent was continued to airport visually with runway in site and landed without further incident. We lost radio contact with ATC around 2;000 feet.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Baron 58 pilot experienced a rough running engine while at cruise at 7000 feet. He feathered the engine and diverted to the nearest airport. The approach and landing were uneventful.

Narrative: I was on an IFR flight plan at a cruise altitude of 7;000 feet. Everything was normal on run up; take off; climb and level off. I had just leveled off and had completed the cruise check. All gauges indicated normal and in the green with no indication of a problem. After about 5-10 minutes at cruise; the right engine started to cough/sputter. At first I thought it was water passing thru the fuel line. Engine instruments still showed normal. The engine didn't show any improvement; so I moved the fixture control forward for more fuel. It did not help; so I moved the boost pump to the on position. The engine continued to get rougher in operation. I then advised ATC that we had an engine problem and needed the closest airport available. At this time; I feathered the engine. ATC advised that K39 (St Claire) or UUV (Sullivan) was the closest. I asked for K39 and considered UUV because it had a better and longer runway plus I thought K39 was closed. I started to ask for UUV when ATC indicated UUV was 8 miles away. At about the same time; ATC also indicated we were over K39 so I decided to stay with the original plan and land at K39. During descent; I advised ATC I was trying to restart the right engine but would not restart. Descent was continued thru an overcast layer estimated to be around 3;000 feet with vectors to the airport. Got a visual on the airport and runway. Descent was continued to airport visually with runway in site and landed without further incident. We lost radio contact with ATC around 2;000 feet.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1239926
Time
Date	201502
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	K39.Airport
State Reference	MO
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Baron 58/58TC
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 10.3 Flight Crew Total 15090.5 Flight Crew Type 3949.9
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

A baron 58 pilot experienced a rough running engine while at cruise at 7000 feet. He feathered the engine and diverted to the nearest airport. The approach and landing were uneventful.