- Date
- October 25, 1988, 19:15 local (23:15 UTC)
- Place
- Homestead, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N26820Piper J3C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report November 28, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881025069859A
- Case key
- 32360
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 plt rprtd that while climbing at night after takeoff, the eng sputtered. He suspected possible water in the fuel & landed across rows in a field. Drg the landing, the gear failed & the acft came to rest on its belly with a bent prop, torn fabric & dmgd eng cowling. When he tried to move the acft with a forklift, the acft was further dmgd. Originally, the owner considered the dmg to be minor, but later, when an FAA inspector examined the acft, the dmg was determined to be substantial. No preimpact part failure/malfunction was found, but the acft was moved before the investigation was begun. The temp & dew point were 78 & 68 deg, respectively. According to icing probability charts, conds were conducive for carb ice.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N26820
- Reported as
- Piper J3C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4198
- Airframe hours
- 2,526
- Engine
- Continental C-85-8, 85 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Southern Bean Farms, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 23, 1988 · 3 hours before
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
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 914 total · 501 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 90° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TMB, 10 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.