- Date
- July 16, 1990, 15:06 local (19:06 UTC)
- Place
- Radnow Township, PA
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3EFPiper PA-23-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900716026319A
- Case key
- 36691
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
Wire strike during an off airport forced landing in unsuitable terrain. Contributing factors were a power loss, caused by an engine oil leak.
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 was returning to his home airport flying VFR a 1500 feet MSL. After starting a slow climb to 3000 feet the pilot noticed the propeler RPM had dropped on the right engine and his passenger told him that oil was leaking from the engine. The pilot shut down & feathered the right engine. He could not maintain altitude or airspeed on the left engine, so he elected to make an off airport landing on a closed highway. While on approach, the left propeller struck a powerline. The pilot could not gain control of the airplane before it impacted the ground. The engine teardown showed no discrepancies. The post impact fire caused too much damage to the oil lines & engines exterior to determine the origin of the oil leak.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3EF
- Reported as
- Piper PA-23-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 23-938
- Airframe hours
- 4,400
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Arthur N. Devries
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 16, 1990
- Departed
- GED · Sussex Co., DE
- Destination
- 1N9 · Allentown, PA
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
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 400 total · 150 in this make and model · 35 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.