- Date
- May 28, 1985, 00:00 local (04:00 UTC)
- Place
- Loxahatchee, FL
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Unknown
- Aircraft
- N3449QPiper PA-34
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850528021239A
- Case key
- 31247
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 plt & passengers were seen drinking beer in a bar prior to the flt. After the acft took off, witnesses observed it flying very low near a shoreline; one of them was a police officer that identified the acft by its registration number. At aprx 1930, the plt made a very low pass over an arpt at high speed & against the prevailing flow of traffic. No known witnesses observed the acdnt. The wreckage was found 3 days later where it had crashed on a federal wildlife preserve & came to rest partially submerged against the bank of a canal. An exam of the crash site revealed the acft had collided with a high tension electrical transmission line at about 40 ft AGL, then impacted the ground. Toxicology studies by the medical examiner showed the plt's blood/chest fluids had an alcohol level of 0.09%. Tests of the occupants chest fluids at the FAA aeromedical center showed alcohol levels of 0.115% for the plt, 0.151% for the female passenger, & 0.085% for the male passenger. The extent of possible putrefaction was no verified.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3449Q
- Reported as
- Piper PA-34
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 347770229
- Airframe hours
- 1,928
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-360-E, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Albert Haward III, doing business as Resources Storage Management
- Registered owner
- Resources Storage Management
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 4, 1985 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- LNA · Lantana, FL
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 30
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,087 total · 21 in this make and model · 2,043 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 60° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PBI, 20 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.