- Date
- December 22, 1984, 18:00 local (Dec 23, 1984, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Huntsville, AL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N7988NPiper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19841222067779A
- Case key
- 6648
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
According to the pax very shortly after takeoff the acft 'stall light' illuminated as the acft flew over trees aft the end of the rwy. One pax reported that the acft climbed slightly before it dropped to the ground left wing and nose first. Exam of the eng revealed that the interior cone ass'y of the muffler was loose blocking the exhaust port. Acft gross weight was computed to be 2,219 pounds. Max gross allowable was 2,150 pounds.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7988N
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7125369
- Airframe hours
- 3,432
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 140 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John David Hodges
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 8, 1984 · 100 hours before
- Departed
- 3M5 · Huntsville, AL
- Airport
- 3M5 · Madison County Skypark, runway 27, 2,400 × 160 ft, grass/turf
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
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 239 total · 10 in this make and model · 205 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.