# Incident 20050319003799I: Piper PA32RT300, Defuniak Spring, FL, March 19, 2005

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: March 19, 2005, 17:30 local time
- Place: Defuniak Spring, FL
- Airport: Defuniak Springs Airport
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Fcd/Prec Ldg From Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 30.7311° N, 86.1538° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at DEFUNIAK SPRINGS (54J), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=30.7311&lon=-86.1538&mi=10
- Aircraft: N3337M, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N3337M) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-32RT-300 (registry code 7103215, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-32rt-300) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming IO-540 series (registry code 41530, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-io-540-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA32RT300
- Reported engine: LYC IO540*
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 2,300 total, 1,400 in this make and model, 3 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20050319003799I

## Narrative

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

(-23) WHILE IN CRUISE FLIGHT, PIC EXPERIENCED VIBRATION, FOLLOWED BY ENGINE ROUGHNESS. VIBRATION/ROUGHNESS WAS APPARENTLY SEVERE ENOUGH TO CONVINCE PIC THAT TOTAL FAILURE WAS IMMINENT. PIC DECLARED EMERGENCY, AND LANDED AT FIRST AVAILABLE AIRPORT. NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED ON LANDING. PIC STATED THAT LANDING WAS HARDER THAN USUAL, BUT NOT SO HARD AS TO CAUSE GEAR FAILURE. AFTER LANDING, PIC REPORTED THAT TWO CYLINDERS HAD "BLOWN". ENGINE HAD JUST COME FROM MAJOR OVERHAUL, AND HAD BETWEEN 5 AND 6 HOURS SINCE COMPLETION OF THAT OVERHAUL.

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.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.