- Date
- June 17, 1988, 19:27 local (23:27 UTC)
- Place
- Miami Lakes, FL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 2 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N560JBPiper PA-31-P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 19, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880617026289A
- Case key
- 32023
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 instructor (CFI), who survived, was flying the acft fm the rgt fnt seat while the owner/plt was in the left seat. The flt had progressed normally until the plts rtrnd to the arpt to lnd. Clnc was received to lnd on rwy 9L. According to the CFI, he lowered the lndg gear, selected 10 deg of flaps & noted he needed excessive back pressure on the ctl yoketo keep the acft fm dscndg. Also, he stated he was unable to relieve the pressure with elec or manual trim. He asked the plt/owner to use his elec trim (on the left yoke), but this did not help. The CFI stated he retracted the flaps & increased pwr, but the acft contd to settle. Subsequently, it hit a tree & a pole, then impacted the gnd & struck a vehicle before stopping. A fire erupted & all 3 occupants were burned while evacuating the acft. The plt/owner died fm his injuries. No preimpact part failure or malfunction was fnd drg the investigation. Flt test data concerning thrust- drag ratio showed that induced drag increases rapidly below 90 KTS. Witnesses said the acft was low/slow on final apch.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N560JB
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31-P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31P-7400195
- Airframe hours
- 1,750
- Engine
- Lycoming TIGO-541-E1A, 425 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Laurence D. Gavolic
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 1, 1988 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- OPI · Opa Locka, FL
- Airport
- OPE · Opa Locka, runway 9L, 8,002 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 28
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 3,444 total · 270 in this make and model · 3,282 as pilot in command · 224 in the last 90 days · 79 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- OPI, 2 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.