- Date
- July 3, 1989, 16:45 local (21:45 UTC)
- Place
- Sanger, TX
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N3353MPiper PA-12
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 10, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890703019389A
- Case key
- 22775
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall at low altitude.
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 observed the acft in what they characterezed as a high performance takeoff. They reported an initial deck angle of about 25 deg which shallowed to about 10 deg as the acft climbed thru 200' AGL. With no appreciable acceleration, at about 300', the acft entered a left bank as if to turn crosswind. As the acft was turning, it entered a steep descent & crashed. The wind was from the northeast at about 10 to 15 KTS. The plt had logged about 7 hrs in this make and model of acft. No evidence of pre-impact failure of the acft or its systems was found during the investigation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3353M
- Reported as
- Piper PA-12
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12-2050
- Airframe hours
- 994
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 165 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- North Texas Flyers Association
- Registered owner
- North Texas Flyers Assoc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 12, 1989 · 24 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
- Destination
- NONE
- Airport
- Bar Vk Ranch, runway 36, 3,100 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- Certificates
- Flight engineer, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 18,250 total · 7 in this make and model · 17,258 as pilot in command · 147 in the last 90 days · 63 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FTW, 30 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.