- Date
- June 6, 1984, 18:14 local (22:14 UTC)
- Place
- Berrien Springs, MI
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N8205YPiper PA-30
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840606024379A
- Case key
- 12636
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 crashed shortly after takeoff near the end of the rwy. The sequence began when the plt noticied that acft acceleration was 'a bit slow' on the rwy. Then a noticable drop in RPM on the right engine occurred at about halfway down the 3100 ft rwy. The plt decided to continue the takeoff attempt rather then abort. After the acft became airborne a turn to the right began in spite of the plts attempts to fly straight ahead. The acft did not attain vmca (80 KTS), impacted the ground at a shallow angle and slid 400 ft to a stop. The stall warning horn was on for the last 900 ft of the flt. No reason for the loss of RPM was found except possibly the spark plugs which showed signs of sooting.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8205Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-30
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30-1330
- Airframe hours
- 3,590
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-320-C1A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Thorvald W. Christiansen
- Registered owner
- Berrien Cv Surgery
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 15, 1983 · 112 hours before
- Departed
- 120 · Berrien Springs, MI
- Destination
- BTR · Baton Rouge, LA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- C20 · Andrews University, runway 31, 3,100 × 60 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
- 56
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,550 total · 1,050 in this make and model · 2,304 as pilot in command · 42 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 7° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.