Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Private; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 25; Flight Crew Total 3500; Flight Crew Type 600
Workload; Human-Machine Interface
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Maintenance Action
Procedure; Weather
Autopilot - Maintenance Static System malfunction. In climb as cabin pressurized airspeed '0'. Altimeter 1;200 - Encoder 1;200 even though climbing. Vertical Speed Indicator '0'. IFR in clouds - declared emergency with Approach - vectors return to departure airport RNAV 15 Approach. On ground; discovered disconnect in static system plumbing inside pressurized cabin.
During an IMC climb on a test flight following autopilot maintenance; a PA-46 pilot discovered he had no airspeed; vertical speed and an incorrect altimeter. He returned to the departure airport where the static plumbing was found disconnected inside the cabin.