- Date
- July 21, 1990, 07:05 local (14:05 UTC)
- Place
- Clarksburg, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N1570JPiper PA-28-140
- Weather
- Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 12, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900721027579A
- Case key
- 26873
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
The failure of the airplane's muffler during initial climb.
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 owner-operator of a 22-year old aircraft took off from a 2100-foot-long turf airstrip. He had used 25 degrees of flaps and had anticipated being airborne before reaching the end of the runway. The airplane gained about 20 feet of altitude, lost engine power and collided with terrain beyond the departure end of the runway. An exam of the engine exhaust system revealed the muffler was deteriorated. Its inner tube (core) had dislodged and was partially blocking the engine's exhaust. This resulted in a loss of engine power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1570J
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-24815
- Airframe hours
- 4,718
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Budge, James C
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 7, 1990 · 18 hours before
- Airport
- C14 · Clarksburg, runway 9, 2,100 × 75 ft, grass/turf
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
- 67
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 236 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.