Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Palm Beach County Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lantana, Florida 33462
Friday, June 24, 1994 9:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED TO ROTATE ABOUT 3,217 FT DOWN THE 3,746-FT RUNWAY. ONE OR BOTH ENGINES WERE HEARD RUNNING ROUGH. THE AIRPLANE CLIMBED TO ABOUT 300 FT AGL, BANKED LEFT, PITCHED NOSE DOWN AND IMPACTED THE GROUND. DURING THE INVESTIGATION, THE LEFT ENG OPERATED TO FULL RATED RPM AFTER REPLACEMENT OF THE DAMAGED IGNITION HARNESS, ADJUSTMENT OF THE TURBOCHARGER DENSITY CONTROLLER, AND ADJUSTMENT OF THE MAGNETO-TO-ENG TIMING. THE RIGHT ENG ALSO OPERATED NORMALLY AFTER REPLACEMENT OF THE MAGNETO, IGNITION HARNESS, AND ENG-DRIVEN FUEL PUMP. THE DENSITY CONTROLLER REQUIRED ADJUSTMENT TO OBTAIN FULL RATED RPM. THE #3 CYL FUEL INJECTOR NOZZLE WAS ALSO PARTIALLY BLOCKED BY CONTAMINANT. THE RIGHT ENG MAGNETO CONTACT ASSEMBLIES OPERATIONALLY CHECKED OK. THE CAPACITORS WERE HEAT DAMAGED. RIGHT ENG MAGNETO-TO-ENG TIMING AND INTERNAL TIMING OF THE MAGNETO WERE NOT DETERMINED. PILOT'S TOXICOLOGICAL RESULTS WERE POSITIVE FOR BUTALBITAL (1.768 UG/ML BLOOD, 0.553 UG/ML URINE), AND ALSO POSITIVE FOR ACETAMINOPHEN & SALICYLATE (ASPIRIN) IN URINE. BUTALBITAL IS A PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION (BARBITURATE) NOT APPROVED FOR FLYING.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S IMPAIRMENT OF JUDGMENT AND PERFORMANCE DUE TO DRUGS, HIS FAILURE TO ABORT THE TAKEOFF AFTER EXPERIENCING REDUCED TAKEOFF PERFORMANCE, AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN MINIMUM CONTROL SPEED. FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT WERE: A PARTIAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO IMPROPER MAGNETO-TO-ENGINE TIMING, AND A PARTIALLY BLOCKED FUEL NOZZLE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/24/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 905 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | LANTANA |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33462 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PALM BEACH COUNTY PARK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LNA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 17 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 856 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 26 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1600 |
| 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) | 1279 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 24 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 925 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N27872 |
| NTSB Number | MIA94FA167 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31-325 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-31-325 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-7912031 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6500 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 12 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THORNE, ROSCOE M. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4915 S. CONGRESS AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAKE WORTH |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33461 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| 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 | 21 |
| Runway Length | 3496 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |