- Date
- April 5, 1982, 20:00 local (Apr 6, 1982, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Bostic, NC
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N9610JPiper PA-28-180
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report April 5, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820405008269A
- Case key
- 70008
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The aircraft crashed in a steep nose down attitude about 5 mi east of the destination airport. When the airport operator went home at about 1830 EST, he noted that a 350 ft mountain peak near his home was obscured by clouds. At about that same time, he estimated that the visibility was 1/8 to 1/4 mi with light rain and drizzle. At about 2000 EST, witnesses heard an aircraft in the vicinity of the crash site. The sound of the engine was described as increasing and decreasing alternately, then it ceased abruptly with the sound of an impact. The pilot's wife, who was a certified flight instructor, said that his habit was to use the 090 deg radial of the sugarloaf mountain VORTAC to fly over the airport.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9610J
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-3760
- Airframe hours
- 2,912
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Robert Alden Jones
- Registered owner
- Robert Alden Jones
- Departed
- RDU · Raleigh, NC
- Destination
- 57A · Rutherfordton, NC
- Airport
- 57A · Rutherford County
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 50
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 1,279 total · 260 in this make and model · 1,098 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 32 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Lowest ceiling
- 300 ft broken
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.