- Date
- June 14, 1982, 16:49 local (20:49 UTC)
- Place
- Atlanta, GA
- Injuries
- 2 serious, 1 minor; on the ground: 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N4072PPiper PA-23-160
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 14, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19820614022269A
- Case key
- 69833
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
Shortly after takeoff, a loud noise was heard and sparks were observed coming from the right side of the right engine. The aircrew attempted to feather the right engine, but it would not feather. They were unable to maintain altitude and descended into trees. After striking trees, the plane came to rest on the roof of a house. The aircraft burst into flames about 5 to 10 min after the crash. A police officer that had responded and had climbed onto the roof was reportedly thrown off by an explosion. He received minor injuries. An examination of the right engine revealed that one blade of the model HC-82XG propeller did not feather and was free to move. The retaining clamp on this blade was cracked and had a portion missing. A metallurgical examination revealed that it had failed from high cycle fatigue. Hartzell propeller service bulletin, no 126, dated 12/9/80, recommended that this clamp (an old model) be replaced by a new improved type. No other preimpact failures were found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4072P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-23-160
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 23-1550
- Airframe hours
- 5,339
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B3B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Mark Hewlett
- Registered owner
- Transamerican Airways
- Departed
- PDK · Atlanta, GA
- Destination
- PDK · Atlanta, GA
- Airport
- PDK · Peachtree-Dekalb, runway 9, 3,378 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 22
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 271 total · 16 in this make and model · 205 as pilot in command · 77 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 185 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PDK
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.