- Date
- April 14, 1984, 17:04 local (22:04 UTC)
- Place
- Key West, FL
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N5942NRockwell 114A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840414013499A
- Case key
- 30984
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 acft took off from rwy 27. Several witnesses stated the acft appeared unusually slow during the initial climb. The plt reported to the tower he had a problem & was going to 'come around.' The acft entered a right turn and appeared to stop climbing at 200 ft AGL. A witness stated the landing gear was extended, the engine did not sound like it was developing full power and the left cabin door was open aprx 8 to 10 inches. After aprx 90 deg of right turn, the acft nose dropped, the plane rolled to the right, then it descended below the treeline & crashed into the side of a house. An exam of the acft structure, flt controls & eng revealed no pre-crash failure or malfunction. The left cabin door was found in the open position at the accident site.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5942N
- Reported as
- Rockwell 114A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 14539
- Airframe hours
- 200
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-T4B5D, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Gerald A.Kaplan
- Registered owner
- Anibal Massa
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 2, 1984 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- EYW · Key West, FL
- Destination
- 7X1 · Sugar Loaf Key, FL
- Airport
- runway 27
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 320 total · 60 in this make and model · 243 as pilot in command · 68 in the last 90 days · 40 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- EYW, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.