- Date
- August 9, 1986, 14:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Houston, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3930TPiper PA-28-R-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 22072
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
Private pilot of a Piper PA-28R-180 departed runway 15 at west Houston airport (iws), Houston, Texas. Pilot stated he had departed runway 15 when engine quit at approximately 600 feet AGL. Pilot executed a forced landing approximately 2 miles off the departure end of runway. Pilot stated he failed to deactivate the automatic gear lowering feature of the aircraft which resulted in a forced landing into an unimproved area with all three landing gears down and locked. Aircraft sustained substantial damage. Nose gear sheared and both main gears were forced upward into the wing structures. The pilot and one passenger onboard the aircraft were uninjured. Pilot stated he took on 27 gallons of low lead aviation fuel at west Houston airport and had drained fuel samples from wing tank sumps and gasolator and found no water present. However, investigation of the aircraft subsequent to the accident revealed some water present in the gasolator. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3930T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-R-180 (PA-28-R-18)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-30269
- Airframe hours
- 2,600
- Engine
- Lycoming J0-360-BJE, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- George W. Roberts
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 7, 1986
- Departed
- GWS · Houston, TX
- Destination
- SGR · Houston, TX
- Airport
- 9WS · West Houston, runway 15, 4,000 × 50 ft, dirt
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
- 54
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 213 total · 7 in this make and model · 126 as pilot in command · 1 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 12,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HOU, 13 nm away