- Date
- July 29, 1987, 17:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- St Petersburg, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N22GMPiper PA-23-160
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 25, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870729040079A
- Case key
- 31949
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
After climbing abv 3000' drg an instrnl flt, the instructor (CFI) had the student lower the gear & flaps to a takeoff configuration & slow the acft below VMC (72 KTS). The CFI then shut off fuel to the left eng. The student followed the correct procedures to feather the eng & accellerated to vyse (95 KTS), but at vyse, the acft wouldn't maint alt. The cfitold the student to turn back twd the arpt & restart the eng. Drg the 1st atmt, the prop turned a few times, but the engdidn't start. Rprtdly, the starter wouldn't engage drg successive atmts & the acft contd dscndg. The CFI took ctl of theacft & 'rechecked gear and flaps retracted using electric hydraulic pump' while restarts were atmtd. The plts couldn't reach the arpt, so they elected to lnd the acft in a shallow bay. Witnesses noted that the left main gear was extended bfr the acft was lndd. When the acft was pulled from the water, the left main gear was in the down psn. However, an exam of the acft revealed no reason for the lndg gear sys or starter to malfunction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N22GM
- Reported as
- Piper PA-23-160
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 231817
- Airframe hours
- 5,506
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B3B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- David P. Payne
- Registered owner
- George C Moench
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 21, 1986 · 51 hours before
- Departed
- SPG · St. Petersburg, FL
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
- 48
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 13,500 total · 400 in this make and model · 4,150 as pilot in command · 168 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft broken
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SPG, 6 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.