- Date
- July 5, 1987, 01:00 local (05:00 UTC)
- Place
- St Marys, GA
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N6165PPiper PA-24-250
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report October 17, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870705032259A
- Case key
- 7472
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
After returning fm a local ngt flt, the acft was lndd gear up when the lndg gear did not extend. The acft bgn burning after it came to rest. It was extensively damaged by fire & the cause of the gear malfunction was not determined. Local police, who responded to the accident, noted 'an odor, commonly associated with alcoholic beverages' coming fm the plt. He was reminded of the Georgia implied consent warning, but refused to provide a blood sample for the police to use for a toxicology test. An investigation revealed the plt had only a student license & had taken the acft without the owner'spermission. The owner was an associate of the plt's uncle. One of the passengers stated that he & the plt had been 'drinking' & they decided to go flying with 2 other persons. He noted that when the gear did not extend, he saw a red handle that said 'emergency gear down.' He stated 'I started to mess with it, but it did not do any good.' The plt stated the gear did not extend by using either the normal or manual sys. He rprtd only 2 hrs flt time in PA-24 acft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6165P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 241266
- Airframe hours
- 4,696
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-A1A5, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Vaughn, Robert B
- Registered owner
- Ballew, M Stan
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Airport
- 4J6 · St Marys, runway 4, 5,000 × 100 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
- 20
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 79 total · 2 in this make and model · 44 as pilot in command · 38 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 12,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- JAX, 15 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.