- Date
- May 30, 1983, 17:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Haskell, TX
- Injuries
- 5 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5170SPiper PA-28-180
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830530021459A
- Case key
- 20730
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 acft crashed while on a flt in an area where thunderstorm warnings were in effect. There were no known witnesses to the actual crash, but 2 or 3 local residents heard an acft eng at about the estimated time of the accident. One resident about 1/4 mi from the crash site stated that he heard the eng aprx 5 min after a severe thunderstorm began. He stated that about 2 inches of rain fell in 20 min, visibility was restricted & there was 'very hi winds.' A local radio station at Haskell, TX recorded winds of 54 mph during the thunderstorm. An investigation revealed that the acft's right wing & both horizontal stabilators had separated in flt, then the acft crashed in a 70 to 80 deg nose down, inverted, left wing low attitude while at a hi rate of speed. The wing & stabilator failures were indicative of overload separation. One of the 5 occupants in the 4 place acft was a baby.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5170S
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7105024
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Roy Williams
- Registered owner
- James Roy Williams
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 6, 1982
- Departed
- 1F2 · Graford, TX
- Destination
- F97 · Seagraves, TX
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 100 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 54 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 30 ft
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.