# Accident 19961115035859A: Piper PA34220T, West Milton, OH, November 15, 1996

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: November 15, 1996, 18:00 local time
- Place: West Milton, OH
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Fcd/Prec Ldg From Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 39.9509° N, 84.3194° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=39.9509&lon=-84.3194&mi=10
- Aircraft: N8468H, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N8468H-1998-06-10) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-34-220T (registry code 7103420, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-34-220t) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA34220T
- Reported engine: CONT TSIO360KB
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 2
- Pilot flight hours: 626 total, 56 in this make and model, 33 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB IAD97FA022](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD97FA022) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19961115035859A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

PILOT DECLARED EMERGENCY, DIDN'T MAINTAIN ALTITUDE, CRASHED. (.4)THE PILOT AND PASSENGER WERE DROPPED OFF TO PICK UP THE PILOT'S AIRPLANE, AFTER A NEW GLOBAL POSITIONING SATELLITE (GPS) UNIT HAD BEEN INSTALLED. AFTER TAKEOFF, THE PILOT STATED TO THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR OVER THE UNICOM FREQUENCY THAT HE WAS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH HIS TRIM AND WAS HEADING FOR DAYTON.  BEFORE CONTACTING THE DAYTON AIRPORT, THE PILOT STATED THE AIRPLANE HAD A FULL DEFLECTION OF ELEVATOR DOWN TRIM, AND HE WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY HOLDING HIS ALTITUDE. THE INSTRUCTOR ASKED IF HE HAD PULLED THE CIRCUIT BREAKER FOR THE TRIM, AND THE PILOT ANSWERED YES.  SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED INTO A FARM FIELD IN A NEAR VERTICAL ATTITUDE.  THE KING KLN 89 GPS UNIT WAS WIRED TO THE NUMBER ONE VOR AND THE AUTOPILOT IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THE GPS COULD BE COUPLED TO THE AUTOPILOT.  ACCORDING TO THE TECHNICIAN, AFTER INSTALLATION THE SYSTEM WAS CHECKED ON THE GROUND AND FOUND TO BE OPERATIONAL.  THE REPAIR TECHNICIAN FAILED TO HAVE THE AIRCRAFT TEST FLOWN IN ACCORDANCE WITH FAR 91.407 (B) PRIOR TO RELEASING IT TO THE PILOT.      (-23) PIPER PA-34-220T, N8468H DEPARTED BROOKVILLE AIRPARK (I62) VFR AT APP              ROXIMATELY 2245 UTC AND WAS ON FIRST FLIGHT AFTER HAVING A GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) INSTALLED. SHORTLY AFTER DEPARTING (I62) N8468H CONTACTED DAYTON ATCT AND DECLARED AN EMERGENCY, STATING HE WAS HAVING A PROBLEM HOLDING ALTITUDE AND WOULD LAND AT DAYTON (DAY). DAY ATCT THEN LOST CONTACT WITH THE AIRCRAFT. THE AIRCRAFT CRASHED 9-10 MILES WEST OF DAYTON (DAY) AT APPROXIMATELY 1800 UTC. AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED, PILOT AND ONE PASSENGER WERE ON BOARD, BOTH FATAL. M&D REPORT WILL BE SUBMITTED AT A LATER DATE.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB IAD97FA022](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD97FA022), Nov 15, 1996: Piper PA-34-220T (N8468H), West Milton, OH, destroyed, 2 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's inability to maintain aircraft control after an undetermined failure of the automatic flight control. A contributing factor was failure of the maintenance technician to have the airplane…

## Other reports on N8468H (1)

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

- [Accident 19890415063499A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19890415063499A), Apr 15, 1989: Piper PA34220T (N8468H), Pittsburgh, PA, Substantial damage. Gear collapsed on landing. Damage indicates a serve drop on landing.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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