- Date
- January 14, 1990, 11:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Liberty, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8128BPiper PA-32R-301T
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 10, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900114000579A
- Case key
- 23095
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
Loss of engine power due to failure of the tappet faces. A factor in the accident was the unsuitable terrain in which the forced landing was made.
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
During cruise flight at 3500 feet, the aircraft yawed violently left, followed by an engine shutdown. The pilot attempted a inflight engine restart without success. Landing was made to a pasture with the gear up due to the suspected wet ground conditions. During the ground run, the aircraft struck a fence row, resulting in substantial damage. The violent yaw and engine shutdown was the result of the tappet face failures. Examination of the faces did not determine the failure mode.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8128B
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32R-301T (PA-32R-301)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32R8029018
- Airframe hours
- 1,050
- Engine
- Lycoming TIO-540, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Conrad Magauirk
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 29, 1990 · 24 hours before
- Departed
- RNJ · Baytown, TX
- Destination
- HNO · Henderson, TX
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
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 550 total · 500 in this make and model · 550 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- IAH, 40 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.