- Date
- August 3, 1984, 21:15 local (Aug 4, 1984, 02:15 UTC)
- Place
- Bloomington, IL
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5881ZPiper PA-22-108
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840803037949A
- Case key
- 12727
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
Plt departed on local flt shortly before the twr closed. Plt recalled final twr transmission included altimeter setting which was a significant change on his instrument. On return to the arpt, 35 mins after departure, fog and haze had reduced visibility to about 2 miles. On turn to final, acft descended about 400 ft below normal approach path. Landing lights illuminated pwr lines ahead. Plt felt that an evasive pull-up maneuver would not allow clearance so power was added and attempt made to fly under the lines without a visual ground reference. The acft impacted the ground in a corn field.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5881Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-22-108
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 229744
- Airframe hours
- 2,869
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-01, 108 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ralph E. Gaines
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 13, 1983 · 39 hours before
- Airport
- BMI · Bloomington
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
- 47
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 149 total · 27 in this make and model · 27 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 150° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Temperature
- 84 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BMI, 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.
Other investigations on N5881Z · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.