- Date
- July 11, 1988, 00:25 local (04:25 UTC)
- Place
- Fryeburg, ME
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N84493Piper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 26, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880711026189A
- Case key
- 36154
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
According to witnesses, the pilot had been drinking and two friends drove him to the airport and watched as he departed. They noted that the aircraft was climbing steeply after liftoff and then observed the aircraft's rotating beacon as the aircraft spiraled to the ground. The tox report revealed ethyl alcohol levels of 0.24% and 0.19% in the pilot's urine and blood, respectively.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N84493
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-8216032
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D3G, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- New England Flyers
- Registered owner
- Benjamin Franklin Flyers
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 8, 1988 · 3 hours before
- Airport
- B20 · Eastern Slope Regional
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 160 total · 60 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.