- Date
- April 16, 1994, 08:15 local (12:15 UTC)
- Place
- Spring Hill, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8572PPiper PA-24-260
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 7, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940416011009A
- Case key
- 37532
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
Unsuitable terrain encountered during a forced landing. Contributing to the accident was the fatigue failure of one of the propeller blade's pitch change knob.
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
During cruise flight the pilot reported a severe vibration. During the forced landing the airplane collided with terrain and came to rest upright. Examination of the propeller revealed that a pitch change knob on one of the propeller blades was failed. Metallurgical examination of the failed pitch change knob revealed that it failed due to fatigue.
Factual narrative
On April 16, 1994, about 0815 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-24-260, N8572P, registered to Roger L. Millheim, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near the Pilot Country Airport, Spring Hill, Florida, while on a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The commercial-rated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated from the Pilot Country Airport, Spring Hill, Florida, about 7 minutes earlier.
The pilot stated that during cruise flight he felt a severe vibration through the airframe which he attributed to be from the propeller. He attempted a forced landing on a road but during the descent, the airplane collided with the top of a 40-foot-tall dirt embankment. The airplane slid over the top down the other side coming to rest upright.
The propeller was removed for examination which revealed that a pitch change knob on one of the propeller blades was failed. The failed knob and butt end of the propeller blade was sent to the NTSB Metallurgy Laboratory in Washington, DC, for examination.
Metallurgical examination of the failed pitch change knob revealed that it failed due to fatigue.
Review of the aircraft logbooks revealed that the propeller was overhauled on June 28, 1989. At the time of the accident the propeller had accumulated about 397 hours since overhaul.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8572P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-260
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-4029
- Airframe hours
- 4,097
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-D4A5, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Millheim, Roger L.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 24, 1993 · 41 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
- 47
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,865 total · 420 in this make and model · 2,410 as pilot in command · 78 in the last 90 days · 29 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TPA, 21 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.