- Date
- July 25, 1988, 17:29 local (21:29 UTC)
- Place
- Cocoa Beach, FL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N69RBPiper PA-60-700P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 4, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880725027879A
- Case key
- 32220
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
Flt entered near vertical descent while flying in area of level 1 and 2 thunderstorms just after plt had called requesting permission to deviate around rain showers. A level 5 thunderstorm was present 8 miles west. The acft descended at rates up to 13,800 feet per minute. Witnesses saw acft exit bottom of clouds at approx 4,000 feet in a near flat attitude and rotating around the yaw axis to the left. Engine sounds increased and decreased as the acft rotated and all components appeared to be present on the acft. No smoke or flame was visible. At approx 500 feet above the water the rotation stopped and the nose dropped to a 30 to 70 degree nose down angle and both engines could be heard increasing in power. Before the recovery could be completed the acft struck the ocean.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N69RB
- Reported as
- Piper PA-60-700P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 60-8423019
- Airframe hours
- 506
- Engine
- Lycoming TIO-540-U2A, 350 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Rogers, Robert H.
- Registered owner
- Richard L Bird
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 13, 1988 · 19 hours before
- Departed
- SUA · Stuart, FL
- Destination
- DCA · Washington, DC
- Flight plan
- IFR
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,150 total · 200 in this make and model · 25 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- COF, 1 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.