- Date
- April 8, 1984, 18:28 local (Apr 9, 1984, 00:28 UTC)
- Place
- Houston, TX
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Unknown
- Aircraft
- N4167YBellanca 8GCBC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840408008749A
- Case key
- 21113
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
Witnesses heard the sound of an acft with the eng at high RPM. Shortly after that, they saw the acft in a left spin with the eng remaining at full power. The acft continued spinning until it crashed & burned. The witnesses noticed that when the plane was descending about 3 ft of the outboard portion of the left wing had failed, but was still attached to the acft. An exam of the wreckage verified that the left wing tip had failed prior to impact. Fire damage was so extensive that the mode of failure could not be determined; however, there was evidence that the left wing tip had failed upward & aft. Further investigation revealed that the acft had been blown inverted on 11/23/83 by strong winds. At that time, the left wing tip was broken & a wing rib was crushed; also, the rudder, vert stabilizer, prop & right wing strut were damaged. No entries had been made in the acft logbooks since the annual inspection on 8/15/83. The extent of the repairs from the wind damage could not be determined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4167Y
- Reported as
- Bellanca 8GCBC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 239-77
- Airframe hours
- 1,621
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-C2E, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Houston Soaring Club
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 15, 1983 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- Houston, TX
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 45
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,484 total · 161 in this make and model · 1,079 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- IAH, 33 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.