- Date
- January 9, 1982, 17:45 local (23:45 UTC)
- Place
- Tomball, TX
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N55489Piper PA-34
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report January 9, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820109000439A
- Case key
- 72830
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
After being cleared by the tower to taxi onto the runway from an unlighted taxiway the right main landing gear fell into a hole. Construction work was being done in the area and no warning lights had been erected. The pilot stated that the tower personnel had told the construction crew to put up markers on several occasions but that they failed to do so.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N55489
- Reported as
- Piper PA-34
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 34-7350222
- Airframe hours
- 2,274
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-CLEG, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Charles Plunkett
- Registered owner
- Charles Plunkett
- Departed
- DWH · Tomball, TX
- Destination
- DWH · Tomball, TX
- Airport
- DWH · David Wayne Hooks, runway 17, 5,340 × 110 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
- 43
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Unknown, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 5,200 total · 60 in this make and model · 4,000 as pilot in command · 78 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 340° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Temperature
- 158 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DWH
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.