- Date
- April 29, 1986, 03:47 local (07:47 UTC)
- Place
- Winton, NC
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Uncontrolled descent
- Aircraft
- N5258WPiper PA-28-160
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 25, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860429015149A
- Case key
- 6936
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
Before the flt, the student plt & passengers had been socializing & drinking beer. At aprx 0200 EDT, while at a friend'shome near murfreesboro, NC, they decided to go flying. At about 0300, an acft was observed to fly over the friend's home at low alt, then it departed the area & did not return. Subsequently, the acft crashed near Winton, NC & was extensively damaged during impact. The needle of the airspeed indicator was pressed against the instrument face at 142 mph. Also, the acft's clock was damaged & had stopped at 0347. There was evidence the plane was in a 22 deg dive with about a 30 deg rgt bank when it crashed. No preimpact part failure/malfunction was fnd; however, the artificial horizon had been removed for repair. Toxicology checks of the plt's blood showed an alcohol lvl of 90 mg% (0.090%), cocaine lvl of 0.09 mg% & benzoylecgonine lvl of 0.11 mg%. The plt had only about 3 hrs of night flying time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5258W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-160
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-303
- Airframe hours
- 1,827
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B3B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Anthony C. Francis
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 5, 1985 · 87 hours before
- Departed
- ASJ · Ahoskie, NC
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
- 25
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 78 total · 70 in this make and model · 48 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 100° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ECG, 40 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N5258W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.