- Date
- September 9, 1990, 21:11 local (Sep 10, 1990, 02:11 UTC)
- Place
- Addison, TX
- Injuries
- 3 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N36720Piper PA-32RT-300T
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report December 31, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900909038559A
- Case key
- 23040
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
Fatigue failure of the throttle cable. Factors related to the accident were: darkness and objects (fence and utility poles) in the emergency landing area.
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 plt rprtd that during a flare to land, he noted a 'click' as he moved the throttle to the idle position & there was no reduction in eng power. He stated the throttle seemed very loose & did not appear to be connected to the eng. The eng went to full power & the turbocharger overboost light illuminated. With an airspeed of 120 KTS, he aborted the landing. As he attempted to maneuver the acft to land, the eng power went to a mid-power range, then surged to a higher range. The plt was forced to make an off-arpt landing. Subsequently, the acft collided with a fence & light poles, then a fire erupted & the plane was desroyed. An exam revealed the throttle cable had failed from high cycle fatigue, which resulted in the uncontrolled eng condition.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N36720
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32RT-300T (PA-32RT-30)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 36720
- Engine
- Lycoming TIO-540-S1AD, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Center-Line Aviation, Inc.
- Departed
- RSG · Rock Springs, TX
- Destination
- ADS · Addison, TX
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ADS · Addison, runway 15, 7,201 × 100 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
- 59
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 5,566 total · 18 in this make and model · 4,941 as pilot in command · 52 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 130° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- ADS, 1 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.