- Date
- February 11, 1991, 14:05 local (21:05 UTC)
- Place
- Bagdad, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3064ZPiper PA22-160
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910211002089A
- Case key
- 27111
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
That the pilot misjudged the landing flare altitude. Contributing to this accident was the failure of the exhaust valve and the pilot's anxiety during the emergency.
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 at normal cruise the engine began to run rough and lose power. The plt declared an emergency and executed a forced landing in the sparsely populated desert. During the landing flare the pilot misjudged the altitude and landed hard. The two rear passengers, thinking there was a fire onboard, released their seat belts before the landing and were ejected through the door on touchdown. Examination of the engine disclosed the sodium filled exhaust valve failed in fatigue.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3064Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA22-160
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-7019
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Robert L. Boyd, doing business as Estrella Ent.
- Registered owner
- Robert L. Boyd
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- P06 · Bullhead City, AZ
- Destination
- DVT · Phoenix, AZ
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 4,700 total · 91 in this make and model · 4,600 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 75 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
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 N3064Z · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.