- Date
- September 10, 1983, 16:49 local (23:49 UTC)
- Place
- San Diego, CA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N2180PPiper PA23-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 23851
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
The student & instructor (CFI) were practicing touch & go landings. During takeoff from the 4th touch & go, the left eng lost power while climbing thru about 200 ft AGL. The CFI took control of the acft. At about the same time, the student saw oil coming from the left eng. The CFI feathered the left eng, & at that time, the acft was vibrating & indicating 100 mph. The CFI lowered the nose to maintain the best single eng rate of climb speed. However, at that speed, the acft was in a descent. The CFI continued over rough terrain toward power lines until he realized the acft would not continue to fly, then turned to the most suitable terrain & crash landed. An exam of the left eng revealed a broken oil cooler line. However, 4 qts of oil was still remaining & there was no evidence that the loss of oil had caused the eng failure. The spark plugs were heavily sooted, which was indicative of an extremely rich mixture. Rough spots were found on the carburetor float chamber needle vlv, which reportedly could have allowed the vlv to stick open.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2180P
- Reported as
- Piper PA23-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 23789
- Airframe hours
- 3,368
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Coronado Racing Corp
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 6, 1983 · 7 hours before
- Airport
- SDM · Brown Field, runway 26R, 7,999 × 200 ft, concrete
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
- 38
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,008 total · 14 in this make and model · 808 as pilot in command · 49 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 9 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SDM, 1 nm away
Other investigations on N2180P · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.