- Date
- March 8, 1990, 07:22 local (13:22 UTC)
- Place
- Grand Prairie, TX
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N2456PPiper PA-38-112
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 12, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900308003519A
- Case key
- 23014
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
The CFI pilot failed to maintain flying speed, and the resultant inadvertent stall. Contributing to the accident was the existing low ceiling.
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 scheduled airplane had a dead battery and the flight instructor took an airplane that was not scheduled to be dispatched due to lack of a transponder, a microphone and radios. Approximately 20 minutes after takeoff, many witnesses saw the airplane coming out of the clouds, from the south-southeast, saw it cross over the airport, and then turn north. When it was north of the airport, it started a sharp right turn, the nose pitched down, and the airplane disappeared from view. It impacted almost straight down. A local weather observation by a local flight operation indicated 400 feet overcast ceiling and visibility of 2 miles.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2456P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-38-112
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 38-79A1030
- Airframe hours
- 2,950
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 112 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Grand Prairie Aviation
- Registered owner
- Avmanco Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 28, 1990 · 17 hours before
- Departed
- F67
- Airport
- F67 · Municipal, runway 17, 4,000 × 75 ft, concrete
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
- 29
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,000 total · 100 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 400 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- NBE, 9 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.