- Date
- September 1, 1989, 22:00 local (Sep 2, 1989, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sanbornton, NH
- Injuries
- 2 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9334JPiper PA-28-180
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report July 29, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890901033609A
- Case key
- 36472
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
VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) by the pilot, and his inadequate remedial action to correct the situation. The adverse weather conditions and darkness were related factors.
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
After the plt of Piper PA-28, N9334J, took off at ngt behind Cessna, N65595, he and the otr plt enctrd marginal wx conds. A psgr of N9334J rprtd the 2 acft enctrd low clds & turbc. He said the 2 acft converged to w/i 100' of each other & the PA-28 plt took action to maint sepn fm the Cessna. The PA-28 plt rprtd that after enctrg adverse wx, he elected to rtrn to the arpt; however, his acft enctrd svr turbc and windshear that resulted in a sudden loss of alt. He said he leveled the wings & applied full pwr, but the psgr panicked & pulled back on the yoke, which aggravated the situation. The psgr said that he grabbed & pulled back on the yoke, only when a nose down collision with terrain was imminent. Subsequently, the acft impacted in a hayfield & slid on its belly to a stop. A witness rprtd low clds, fog and rain. The wind was rprtd to be gstg to 30 KTS.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9334J
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-3431
- Airframe hours
- 3,501
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A3A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- A G. Allen & R. Hanlon
- Registered owner
- Cherokee Flying Club
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 3, 1989 · 1,122 hours before
- Departed
- LCI · Laconia, NH
- Destination
- 2B2 · Newburyport, MA
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 634 total · 608 in this make and model · 559 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 230° at 22 knots, gusting 30
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 68 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.