- Date
- September 3, 1989, 19:02 local (23:02 UTC)
- Place
- Perry, FL
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4CDPiper PA-24-250
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 5, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890903035209A
- Case key
- 32497
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Fuel starvation due to wear and restricted movement of the carburetor float, which resulted in loss of engine power. Soft terrain in the emergency landing area contributed to overload failure of the nose gear.
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
While en route at 3500 ft, the eng lost power & attempts to restart it were unsuccessful. The plt landed the acft in a plowed field, but the nose gear collapsed & the acft was damaged. During an investigation, the carburetor was removed. An internal exam revealed the float-to-bowl clearance was less than required due to float shaft bracket wear. Excessive float drop (between 1.58 & 1.8 inches) was required to start the needle valve opening & allow fuel to enter the chamber. Also, the float chaffed the wall of the carburetor bowl prior to the needle valve opening. No other mechanical problem was evident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4CD
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-1367
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-A1C5, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Departed
- DHN · Dothan, AL
- Destination
- LAL · Lakeland, FL
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 62
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 6,000 total · 122 in this make and model · 27 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- TLH, 45 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.