- Date
- October 16, 1991, 10:14 local (14:14 UTC)
- Place
- Spring Lake, NC
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N83027Piper PA-28RT-201T
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911016046779A
- Case key
- 8484
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The inadvertent flight from visual flight rules flight conditions into instrument flight rules flight conditions by the non-instrument rated pilot, and his subsequent failure to maintain control of the aircraft.
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 non-instrument rated pilot reported to approach control that he was in the clouds, and making a 180 degree turn. A pilot witness stated that the aircraft exited the base of the cloud layer in a 45 degree nose down attitude, and in a 20 degree left bank. The witness estimated the speed of the aircraft to be approximately 250 knots. The pilot's operating handbook for the aircraft lists the maximum maneuvering speed at 121 knots. The aircraft struck high power lines and crashed in a wooded area. The left and right wings of the aircraft were found beneath the power lines, and did not show any indication of having struck the power lines. The spar fractures in the wings were in an upward or positive direction. A large piece of the 1 1/4 inch diameter power cable was found wrapped around the propeller hub and propeller.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N83027
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28RT-201T (PA-28RT-20)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-8131036
- Airframe hours
- 1,150
- Engine
- Continental TSIO=360-FB, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Carite, Charles, doing business as Amc Aviation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Carite, Charles
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 8, 1990 · 31 hours before
- Departed
- AGC · Pittsburgh, PA
- Destination
- CRE · Myrtle Beach, SC
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
- 56
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 926 total · 796 in this make and model · 838 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 10 knots, gusting 17
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FBG, 2 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.