- Date
- July 4, 1989, 21:01 local (Jul 5, 1989, 02:01 UTC)
- Place
- Minot, ND
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5295HPiper PA-16
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 18, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890704025519A
- Case key
- 17596
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
Failure of the airframe tubing (longeron) at the lower forward door frame due to corrosion. A contributing factor was failure of maintenance personnel to comply with service bulletin #819.
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
As the plt turned on final apch to lnd, he heard a 'thud,' then the acft entered an uncontrolled left turn. After turning about 360 deg, it impacted the ground in a left wing low, nose low attitude. An investigation revealed a failureof the airframe tubing at the lower forward door frame. The failure was in the area of a conglomerate weld where the tubing was part of the door frame, fire wall/engine mount, & right forward lift strut support. An exam revealed the tubing had separated prior to impact. Aprx 3/4 of the fracture was the result of corrosion; the remaining fracture was from overload, but not due to impact. With this failure, the leading edge of the right wing would twist upward & the engine (with power) would move up & to the left. Piper service bulleting #819, subject: fuselage door frame tube corrosion, dated 2/28/86, addressed the hazard of corrosion in this area.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5295H
- Reported as
- Piper PA-16
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 16-99
- Airframe hours
- 2,262
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-C1, 108 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William F. Martin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 4, 1989 · 64 hours before
- Departed
- S25 · Watford City, ND
- Destination
- MOT
- Airport
- MOT · Minot Intl, runway 13, 7,493 × 150 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
- 53
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,600 total · 10 in this make and model · 1,520 as pilot in command · 34 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 9,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MDT, 3 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.