- Date
- March 7, 1986, 08:35 local (14:35 UTC)
- Place
- Andalusia, AL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N1099XPiper PA-32-300
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860307005659A
- Case key
- 7215
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 accident flt was to be the last in a series of flt tests. This flt was for the purpose of determining the landing characteristics of the acft with a combination speed/stol kit installed. When the FAA flt test plt failed to return from the mission a search was started. The acft had been seen spinning by 3 witnesses who also saw the plt jump from the acft at low alt. The plt wore a parachute but it was not deployed and he was fatally injured. The plts clothing had oil splatters which chemically tested the same as the oil used for ballast in the acft. There were no oil containersnear the body which was about 20 yds from the acft wreckage. The ballast was improperly secured in the acft and had not been inspected by FAA. The FAA inspector did no evaluation or instructing on the conduct of these tests. The owner said he had performed the same tests as attempted but there were no records concerning these tests. The exit door jettison function required 3 procedural steps for egress.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1099X
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-300
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-7540143
- Airframe hours
- 2,010
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-KIA5, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- M & M Flying Service, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 3, 1986 · 8 hours before
- Departed
- 79J · Andalusia, AL
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 5,513 total · 8 in this make and model · 2,642 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DHN, 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.