- Date
- June 23, 1990, 18:55 local (Jun 24, 1990, 01:55 UTC)
- Place
- Corona, CA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9302PPiper PA-24-260
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900623023779A
- Case key
- 26636
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
Sabotage wherein unknown person(s) put sand in the airplane's fuel tank.
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 plt had arrived at lake havasu on the evening preceding the accident, and when he tied down the airplane all of the fuel tank doors were closed. The next day, when preflighting the airplane for his flight to torrance, he noticed that the right aux fuel tank door was open. While enroute to torrance, and using the aux fuel tank, the engine sustained a total loss of power. Emerg procedures to restart the engine were to no avail and the plt landed in an open field. A cupful of sand was found in the right auxiliary fuel tank, and sand contaminates were also found in the right auxiliary fuel tank port. Some of the injector nozzles were plugged with an unidentified substance.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9302P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-260
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-4798
- Airframe hours
- 2,171
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-D4A5, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert J. Thalmann
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 1, 1989 · 33 hours before
- Departed
- LHU · Lake Havasu, AZ
- Destination
- TOA · Torrance, CA
- Airport
- L66 · Corona
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
- 301 total · 103 in this make and model · 197 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.