- Date
- October 24, 1992, 21:00 local (Oct 25, 1992, 01:00 UTC)
- Place
- Ludington, MI
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N6345PPiper PA-24-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921024043319A
- Case key
- 15612
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 partial loss of engine power during the initial climb out on a night flight.
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 stated shortly after takeoff, the airplane '...lost the ability to climb/maintain altitude.' Emergency procedures were unsuccessful, and the airplane settled into the tree tops. Postaccident examination revealed no evidence of preimpact propeller assembly failure. An engine teardown revealed the top piston ring in the #1 cylinder was broken, with no evidence of scoring on the cylinder wall. The right magneto operation was intermittent, especially at higher RPM settings. The engine total time was 3,169.9 hours, and time since major overhaul was 2,064.5 hours. The airplane had operated 2.4 hours since the most recent annual inspection.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6345P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-1455
- Airframe hours
- 3,170
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Zeeland Aero Club, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Zeeland Aero Club, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 7, 1992 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- LDM
- Destination
- NONE · Zeeland, MI
- Airport
- LDM · Mason County, runway 7, 5,000 × 75 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
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,250 total · 46 in this make and model · 951 as pilot in command · 23 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MBL, 20 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 N6345P · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.