- Date
- February 13, 1990, 11:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Rayne, LA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1785TPiper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 4, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900213002089A
- Case key
- 23107
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 #3 exhaust valve, which necessitated a forced landing on unsuitable terrain.
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 airplane was damaged, when it struck a dike and the ground during a forced landing following a power loss. The pilot stated that while in cruise flight at 500 feet on a pipeline patrol flight, the engine started running rough & the airplane would not sustain level flight. The pilot elected to execute the forced landing in a rice field. Post-accident investigation revealed that the #3 exhaust valve had failed and was ingested, causing severe damage to the piston and cylinder. The cause of the failure of the valve was not determined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1785T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7125100
- Airframe hours
- 4,338
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A1A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Air Scan, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
- Departed
- NONE · Prairieville, LA
- Destination
- Mount Belvieu, LA
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
- 25
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,547 total · 1,253 in this make and model · 2,320 as pilot in command · 105 in the last 90 days · 24 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 19 knots, gusting 27
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,300 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LFT, 8 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.