- Date
- November 15, 1987, 15:42 local (22:42 UTC)
- Place
- Akron, CO
- Injuries
- 3 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9039PPiper PA-24-260B
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 14, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19871115080619A
- Case key
- 17416
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Analysis
Bfr tkof, snow was melted off the acft in a heated hangar. The flt was bgn in blowing snow with a forecast of ocnl mod icing to 20,000'. The plt said the snow lasted only 5 to 10 min & only a trace of ice (less 1/16 inch) accumulated drg the 1st 15 min of flt. No further accumulation of ice was noted. Aprx 45 min after tkof, while cruising in IMC conduciveto induction sys icing, the eng suddenly lost pwr & would not restart. The plt dscndd twd an arpt in IMC to aprx 400' AGL, but made a wheels-up lndg when he could not see the arpt. He attributed the loss of pwr to blockage of the air induction filter. The induction sys was equipped with a spring loaded door which was intended to open automatically & allow heated altn air to flow to the eng in the event the filter bcm blocked. Nonetheless, Piper indcd that opn in icingconds could cause ice to accumulate in the fuel injection sys & result in loss of pwr. To avoid this, Piper svc bulletinno: 861 was issued on 5/4/87 for instln of an improved manually operated altn air sys on fuel injected PA-24-260 acft.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9039P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-260B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-4502
- Airframe hours
- 3,127
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-D4A5, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Bruce G. Deckinga, doing business as Eagles, Ltd.
- Registered owner
- Eagles, Ltd.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 22, 1987 · 108 hours before
- Departed
- APA · Englewood, CO
- Destination
- DSM · Des Moines, IA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- AKO · Akron-Washington County
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
- 42
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,091 total · 249 in this make and model · 996 as pilot in command · 37 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 16 knots, gusting 22
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 400 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 30 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- AKO, 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.