# Accident 20031022027389A: Piper PA32R301, Spencer, TN, October 22, 2003

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: October 22, 2003, 13:15 local time
- Place: Spencer, TN
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Practice Training Manuevers
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 35.7019° N, 85.3972° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=35.7019&lon=-85.3972&mi=10
- Aircraft: N69190, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N69190-2004-08-19) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-32R-301 (registry code 7103218, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-32r-301) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming IO-540 series (registry code 41530, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-io-540-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA32R301
- Reported engine: LYC IO540K1G5D
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Pilot flight hours: 519 total, 253 in this make and model, 14 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB ATL04FA023](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL04FA023) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20031022027389A

## Narrative

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

(-23) ON OCTOBER 22, 2003 PILOT (PHILIP RAY PATTON) DEPARTED BNA AIRPORT AT 12:02. ^PRIVACY DATA^ (PILOT WIFE) SAID HE WAS GOING TO DO SOME STALLS. ^PRIVACY D^ A FRIEND AND PILOT TALKED TO MR. PATTON OVER HIS CELL PHONE AT 12:00 PM. MR. PATTON TOLD ^PRIVACY D^ HE WAS GOING TO PRACTICE STALLS. MR. PATTON WAS SCHEDULED TO BE IN NASHVILLE FOR A MEETING AT 3:30. MR. PATTON WAS NOT AT THE MEETING. AT 12:40AM THE RESCUE WORKERS WERE NOTIFIED OF A MISSING AIRCRAFT. AIRCRAFT WAS FOUND BY TWO FARM WORKERS AT 8:26AM ON OCTOBER 23, 2003. UPON ARRIVING ON SCENE AT 2:00PM FOUND A HOLE IN THE GROUND 2 FOOT DEEP AND 8 FOOT WIDE. THE AIRCRAFT WAS LAYING TO THE SIDE OF THE HOLE WITH THE NOSE OF THE AIRCRAFT POINTING AT THE EDGE OF THE HOLE, THERE WAS AN INDENTATION TO THE RIGHT OF THE HOLE ABOUT AS LONG AS THE AIRCRAFT WING. LATTER PART OF THE WING POSITION LIGHT WAS FOUND IN THE INDENTATION TO THE RIGHT OF THE HOLE.

## 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 ATL04FA023](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ATL04FA023), Oct 22, 2003: Piper PA-32R-301 (N69190), Spencer, TN, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering resulting in an inadvertent stall and the subsequent collision with the ground.

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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