Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Opelika, Alabama 36803
Friday, April 15, 1994 10:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PILOT WAS ON A FLIGHT FROM PLANT CITY, FL, TO CLARKSVILLE, TN. NO FLIGHT PLAN HAD BEEN FILED. LOCAL WITNESSES STATED THERE WERE BLACK CLOUDS IN THE ACCIDENT AREA; THEY ESTIMATED THE CEILING WAS ABOUT 800'. THE WIND WAS FROM THE NORTHWEST & GUSTY. THE AIRCRAFT WAS SEEN TO EXIT THE BASE OF THE CLOUDS IN A NOSE DOWN SPIRAL. AN IN-FLIGHT BREAKUP OF THE AIRCRAFT OCCURRED; WRECKAGE WAS FOUND OVER A 1500' AREA. THE RIGHT WING, BOTH STABILATORS & THE VERTICAL STABILIZER WERE FOUND AT A REMOTE DISTANCE FROM THE MAIN WRECKAGE. UPWARD DEFORMATION WAS FOUND, WHERE THE RIGHT WING & STABILATORS HAD SEPARATED. RECORDS SHOWED THAT ON 12/30/93, MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL HAD REPLACED BOTH REAR FUSELAGE-TO-WING ATTACH POINT BRACKETS. THE REAR ATTACH POINT BRACKETS WERE FOUND IN PLACE FOR BOTH WINGS (ON BOTH SIDES OF THE FUSELAGE), BUT NEITHER THE RIGHT NOR THE LEFT WING REAR ATTACH BOLT WAS FOUND. NO SIGN OF STRETCHING OR STRESS WAS FOUND AT THE BOLT HOLES IN THE BRACKETS. THE PILOT HAD ACCUMULATED 18 HOURS OF FLIGHT TIME IN PREPARATION FOR AN INSTRUMENT RATING & HAD PASSED THE WRITTEN TEST, BUT HE HAD NOT TAKEN A PRACTICAL TEST FOR THE RATING.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
LOSS OF AIRCRAFT CONTROL FOR AN UNKNOWN REASON. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE WEATHER CONDITIONS (CLOUDS WITH LOW CEILING), CONTINUED VFR FLIGHT BY THE PILOT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC), THE PILOT'S LACK OF INSTRUMENT EXPERIENCE, AND FAILURE OF MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL TO INSTALL THE REAR WING-TO-FUSELAGE ATTACH BOLTS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/15/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | OPELIKA |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 36803 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 956 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 85 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AUO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 776 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1304 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 15 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 10:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Unknown |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N39770 |
| NTSB Number | ATL94FA082 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7990018 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 30 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1592 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PASS, MAX E. JR. & MARTHA N. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1297 KAMALI COVE EAST |
| Aircraft Owner City | MEMPHIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 38134 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | X17 |
| Departure City | PLANT CITY |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CKV |
| Destination City | CLARKSVILLE |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |