- Date
- July 11, 1991, 10:33 local (15:33 UTC)
- Place
- Cresson, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N289RLPiper PA-23
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910711027109A
- Case key
- 23365
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
A loss of engine power for unknown reasons and the failure of the certified flight instructor/pilot-in-command to feather the propeller.
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
Both pilots were multiengine rated and cfi's. the second pilot was receiving instruction in preparation for his multiengine instructor certificate. They reported that during takeoff the left engine would not develope full power, and that during the downwind leg of the closed traffic pattern the airplane would not sustain flight. The instructor pilot sensed the engine had lost power but he did not feather the propeller; he relied on the manifold gauge to indicate engine condition. The instructor pilot executed a forced landing and attempted to return to the departure runway. The airplane impacted the terrain in a 45 degree left bank, 15 degrees nose low, short of intended landing point without the pilot attempting to flare. The airplane was destroyed by a post crash fire. No cause for the power loss to the left engine was found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N289RL
- Reported as
- Piper PA-23
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 23-1548
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Bourland Field, Inc., doing business as Bourland Flight Academy
- Registered owner
- Bourland Field, Inc.
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 16, 1990 · 41 hours before
- Airport
- 50F · Bourland Field, runway 17, 4,150 × 60 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
- 51
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 2,377 total · 46 in this make and model · 2,311 as pilot in command · 106 in the last 90 days · 40 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N289RL · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.