- Date
- July 29, 1984, 22:10 local (Jul 30, 1984, 03:10 UTC)
- Place
- Des Moines, IA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1654HPiper PA32R300
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840729038719A
- Case key
- 33544
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 acft eng began to 'shudder badly' upon reaching a cruise alt of 3500 ft MSL shortly after takeoff. The plt made a 180 deg course reversal to return to the arpt but reported to ATC he was unable to see outside the acft because oil was smeared on the acft. The eng lost total pwr after the plt completed the turn. The plt initiated a forced landing on a farm during which the landing gear separated upon contacting the lip of a fencerow. The acft then traveled thru a barbed wire fence where the wings were damaged by fence posts. Metallurgical exam of failed eng components revealed 2 connecting rods failed from high stress fatigue. Three cam followers showed the heads were severly worn and suffered heavy spalling damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1654H
- Reported as
- Piper PA32R300
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32R-7780169
- Airframe hours
- 1,558
- Engine
- Lycoming TIO-540, 310 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Great Planes Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 17, 1984 · 54 hours before
- Departed
- DSM · Des Moines, IA
- Destination
- CBF · Council Bluffs, IA
- 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
- 36
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 480 total · 50 in this make and model · 290 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 0° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DSM, 2 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.