- Date
- March 6, 1985, 21:30 local (Mar 7, 1985, 03:30 UTC)
- Place
- Gilmer, TX
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N7012WPiper PA-28-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850306007989A
- Case key
- 21533
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
An associate of the plt/owner stated that he had departed at about 2030 CST to get some night practice prior to getting a day VFR restriction removed from his pvt license. Reportedly, the owner/plt & an instructor (CFI) were intending to fly together & practice touch-&-go landings. There were no known witnesses to the accident. The acft was found about 4 hrs after it had crashed. An exam of the crash site revealed the acft had collided with 70 ft trees near the apch end of rwy 35. Impact occurred in a slight right bank & slight nose down attitude, as if the acft was on a base to final turn, but too close in & too low. No preimpact part failure or malfunction was found during the investigation. The CFI, who was acting as a safety plt, received serious injuries & had no memory of what occurred during the flt. There were tall trees near the southern part of the rwy which may have obscured the rwy lights when viewed from the east or southeast.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7012W
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-689
- Airframe hours
- 3,159
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert J. Woods
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 28, 1984 · 65 hours before
- Departed
- 4FA
- Airport
- 4F4 · Gilmer-Upshur, runway 35, 3,000 × 50 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
- 23
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 781 total · 67 in this make and model · 647 as pilot in command · 43 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 90° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 35 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GGG, 25 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.
Other investigations on N7012W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.