- Date
- February 17, 1983, 19:13 local (Feb 18, 1983, 03:13 UTC)
- Place
- San Diego, CA
- Injuries
- 5 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N90353Piper 601P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 23428
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
While taking off, the acft climbed aprx 100 to 200 ft, then began loosing alt. During a forced landing on a street, it hit a parked car & a light pole & burst in flames. The plt, who later expired, said that neither eng developed full power (2575 RPM). He said this was not unusual when power was 1st applied, but said full RPM was generally obtained shortly after the roll was begun. After being committed for takeoff, both rpm's were reportedly between 2300 & 2400 RPM.svrl witnesses stated the engs sounded like they were running rough. A witness reported the acft swerved 'as tho the plthad difficulty with the l eng.' Reportedly, the plt 'dropped some more flaps' below the 20 deg takeoff setting 'in orderto pull it off' & raised the gear immediately after lift-off. Eng teardowns revealed excessive spark plug gaps, 1 mag onthe r eng had a .008 point gap (.016 required), its #1 & #4 distributor blocks were cracked & the #1 & #6 leads would not fire properly. Hartzell F-6-5A prop governors installed in place of F-6-35A. Acft was aprx 348 lbs over max wt lmt.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N90353
- Reported as
- Piper 601P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 61P-0211-021
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-S1A5, 290 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Marden G. Dixon
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 20, 1983
- Destination
- Provo, UT
- Airport
- MYF · Montgomery, runway 28R, 3,400 × 150 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
- 41
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 50° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Observed at
- MYF