- Date
- February 18, 1988, 20:11 local (Feb 19, 1988, 01:11 UTC)
- Place
- Stuart, FL
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N43253Piper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report July 18, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880218003529A
- Case key
- 32138
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
Bfr depg at ngt with no flt plan, non-inst rated plt was adzd of psbl clds forming at a low lvl. En route, he got radar flt flwg. Apchg his destn, he got vctrs & alt chgs to avoid wx & otr acft. At 2001:04, radar svc was trmtd with palm bchapch ctl to cont VFR to Stuart arpt. At 2001:24, after ctcg Stuart twr, the plt rcvd lndg instrns. At 2004:10, he said he couldn't find the arpt & had clds ahead. At 2005:45, he said he was in clds & was climbing to 2500'. At 2008:05, he chgd back to apch ctl freq & rprtd having a prblm with wx & requested help. When asked what he wanted, he replied: 'turnaround southbound.' At 2008:43, the ctlr rprtd radar ctc, 10 mi south of Stuart & asked (twice) abt his intentions; both times, the plt asked for southbound hdg. At 2009:01, ctlr gave him a 180 deg vctr & told him to maint VFR; the plt replied he was not VFR & subsequently asked if the ctlr wanted him to clmb. Ctlr adzd he could climb at his discretion, but he (the ctlr) couldn't really tell him what to do; soon thereafter, ctc with acft was lost & it crashed in the ocean
Aircraft
- Registration
- N43253
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-84-16018
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D3G, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Kittyhawk Flight School
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 11, 1987
- Departed
- FLL · Ft Lauderdale, FL
- Destination
- SUA · Stuart, 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
- 36
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 500 total · 85 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Night/dark
- Wind
- 80° at 9 knots
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PBI, 15 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.