- Date
- September 11, 1983, 20:10 local (Sep 12, 1983, 01:10 UTC)
- Place
- Wheeling, IL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N62971Piper PA-31-350
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830911050029A
- Case key
- 12342
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 acft went off the rwy and collapsed the landing gear after power loss during takeoff. Three of the passengers furnished statements and 2 seemed to think that the left engine quit. The acft turned to the right but the pilot did notknow which engine quit. After the accident the left propeller blades were in feather but all the stops were broken. The right prop blades were bent but in high pitch. During a later test run the right engine produced 48 inches of manifold pressure but the left produced only 40 inches. The right engine had an oil leak dripping onto the turbo-charger. The push rod covers were covered with a silicone sealant.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N62971
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31-350
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31-7772013
- Airframe hours
- 2,817
- Engine
- Lycoming TSIO-542-J2BD, 350 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- The Ertl Company
- Registered owner
- Mound City Industries
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Destination
- DBQ · Dunbuque, IA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PWK · Palwaukee, runway 24, 3,652 × 50 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
- 26
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,041 total · 1,966 in this make and model · 49,011 as pilot in command · 178 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.