- Date
- July 14, 1985, 17:41 local (21:41 UTC)
- Place
- Tioga, PA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7934PPiper PA-24-250
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850714071689A
- Case key
- 35572
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 initiated a downwind landing on a grass rwy that sloped mostly uphill, but began sloping downhill at its departure end. A witness near the apch end of the 2150 ft rwy watched the acft touch down beyond its midpoint, then disappear over its crested end. A witness near the departure end heard the acft & 'turned to watch the plane takeoff.' He stated that the acft was headed toward trees & that it looked like the plt was trying to pull up. Subsequently, the acft collided with the trees on downsloping terrain, crashed & burned. One passenger, the plt's son, survived the crash,but died later due to the injuries & burns. An exam of the crash area revealed that the acft had hit a barb wire fence. One of the prop blades had a barb wire radius nick mark on its leading edge. Previously, the plt had stated that at thisarpt, he preferred to always land uphill, regardless of the wind. The wind at the time of the accident was reported to be from 215 deg at 10 gusting 15 KTS.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7934P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-24-250
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-3168
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-A1D5, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Walter Davis Harman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Detroit, MI
- Destination
- 31N
- Airport
- Hughes, runway 1, 2,150 × 75 ft, grass/turf
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
- 65
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,200 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 215° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 81 °F
- Observed at
- ELM, 23 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.
Other investigations on N7934P · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.