- Date
- October 2, 1987, 06:10 local (10:10 UTC)
- Place
- Everglades City, FL
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3RPPiper PA-23-250
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report May 16, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19871002058419A
- Case key
- 31983
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 non-instrument rated plt attempted a VFR flt over the Everglades during the hrs of darkness. The acft crashed into a swampy area at a high rate of speed while in a 90 degree left bank. The acft disintegrated on impact. A convective SIGMET was issued about 25 minutes after departure. It is unknown whether the flt received the SIGMET information. An Everglades national park ranger pilot, who arrived on the scene after the accident, stated that the area into which the flt was operating was desolate, with no ground lights & no discernable horizon during the hrs of darkness. The surface wx observation at fort myers, abt 50 miles nw of the accident site, indicated 4,500 foot broken clouds and 7 miles visibility. Wx satellite photos indicated thunderstorms in the area where the accident took place.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3RP
- Reported as
- Piper PA-23-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 27-4597
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-C4B5, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Applied Mechanical Services,
- Registered owner
- Cm Squared, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- FMY · Ft. Myers, FL
- Destination
- OPF · Opa Locka, 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
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,025 total · 240 in this make and model · 950 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 10° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FMY, 50 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.