- Date
- May 7, 1983, 18:33 local (22:33 UTC)
- Place
- Gaithersburg, MD
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Unknown
- Aircraft
- N1236PPiper PA-23
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Case key
- 15783
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 owner/plt was on a flt, accompanied by two nephews, ages 19 & 8 yrs old. An associate of the owner/plt reported that the 19 yr old nephew, who occupied the right front seat, was a single eng plt, but had no multi-eng instruction. However, no FAA records were found to verify that the nephew was a plt. About 5 mi north of the destination (montgomery co arpt), 2 ground witnesses, who were both plts, saw a Piper apache in level flt at about 1000 ft AGL with the right prop feathered. After they took off in their acft, they tuned in the montgomery co advisory freq to determine if there were any transmissions from the apache. They heard the plt of an apache report on downwind, but heard no mention of an eng problem or an emergency. Witnesses on the arpt & under the base leg for rwy 14 observed the apache turn to final apch with the right prop feathered. The acft then rolled into a right descending nose down attitude & crashed in a steepdescent. No preimpact part failure or malfunction was fnd. Drg med exam on 8/12/82, the plt rprtd 1200 hrs total time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1236P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-23
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 23-257
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-320-A3B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Henry J. Zoranski
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 1, 1982
- Departed
- 2W2 · Westminster, MD
- Destination
- GAI
- Airport
- GAI · Montgomery County Airpark, runway 14, 4,200 × ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 63
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,200 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 16 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BWI, 23 nm away