- Date
- September 11, 1987, 21:10 local (Sep 12, 1987, 01:10 UTC)
- Place
- Gaylordsville, CT
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N2186BPiper PA-28-236
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report February 14, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870911051559A
- Case key
- 30513
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 pilot of the Piper PA-28-236 was cruising at 6000 ft at night when he reported a failure of his vacuum pump followed by loss of his attitude indicator and directional gyro. The aircraft was observed to make a 360 degree turn on the radar scope. The air traffic controller issued 'no gyro' radar vectors. The aircraft was cleared from 6000 ft to 5000 ft in preparation for an instrument approach. The pilot acknowledged the descent clearance and then the aircraft disappeared from the radar scope. It was found scattered over 1/2 mile with both horizontal stabilizer and the vertical stabilizer separated from the aircraft. The pilots log book indicated he met the recency of experience required by 14 CFR 61.57. Fog was reported in the area and the closest recorded weather indicated a 900 ft ceiling with fog.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2186B
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-236
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7911011
- Airframe hours
- 1,250
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-J3A5D, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Executive/Corporate · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Triple R. Industries
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 11, 1987 · 107 hours before
- Departed
- HYA · Hyannis, MA
- Destination
- POU · Poughkeepsie, NY
- Flight plan
- IFR
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
- 20
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,058 total · 133 in this make and model · 984 as pilot in command · 292 in the last 90 days · 88 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 120° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 900 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DXR, 17 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.