- Date
- August 31, 1991, 19:40 local (23:40 UTC)
- Place
- Sod, WV
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5435YPiper PA-23-250
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 13, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910831037629A
- Case key
- 11631
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 improper level off which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing was fuel starvation resulting in partial loss of engine power.
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 pilot was en route when he radioed air traffic control he lost power in one of the engines. ATC lost radio contact with the pilot soon afterwards. Witnesses reported the airplane circled and then landed in a field. The airplane landed hard and then rolled over. Collapsing the fuselage. The examination of the airplane revealed rotational damage to the right propeller, and relatively no damage to the left propeller. An inspection of the right engine revealed fuel in the fuel pump and fuel injector unit; however, the same components of the left engine were absent of fuel. The leakage of fuel from the fuel tanks associated with the airplane damage precluded determination of the fuel aboard when the accident occurred.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5435Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-23-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Arthur G. Maloone
- Registered owner
- Arthur G. Malone
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- HTO · Huntington, WV
- Destination
- CRW · Charleston, WV
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
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 800 total · 38 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HTS, 999 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.