Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St. Clair Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St. Clair, Missouri 63060
Saturday, April 8, 1995 16:29 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AFTER AN ABORTED TAKEOFF DUE TO POOR ACCELERATION, THE PILOT DROPPED OFF HIS PASSENGERS. ONE PASSENGER, A PILOT, TOLD HIM TO HAVE A MECHANIC LOOK AT THE AIRPLANE BEFORE HE FLEW IT AGAIN. THE PILOT SAID YES AND PROCEEDED TO TAKEOFF. THE DEPLANED PILOT SAID THE AIRPLANE CLIMBED TO ABOUT 15 FEET ABOVE THE RUNWAY, DESCENDED ABOUT 10 FEET, BEGAN A LEFT TURN, AND DRAGGED ITS WINGTIP IN THE DIRT. THE LEFT WING'S FUEL TANK AREA RUPTURED. THE AIRPLANE THEN COLLIDED WITH THE GROUND, SPINNING AROUND AND COMING TO A STOP ENGULFED IN FLAMES. AN EXAMINATION OF THE FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM AND PROPELLER REVEALED NO MECHANICAL ANOMALIES. EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED MECHANICAL CONTINUITY THROUGHOUT. HOWEVER, ENGINE CYLINDERS NUMBER 5 AND 6 HAD THEIR RESPECTIVE CAMSHAFT LOBES WORN DOWN SO THAT THEIR VALVES WOULD ONLY OPEN ABOUT 30 PERCENT OF THE MANUFACTURER'S PRESCRIBED DISTANCES. THE FAA'S CIVIL AERO MEDICAL INSTITUTE (CAMI) TOXICOLOGY REPORT SHOWED HIGH LEVELS OF PRESCIPTION NARCOTIC PAINKILLERS IN THE PILOT'S BLOOD AND LIVER FLUIDS. REVIEW OF THE PILOT'S RECORDS FROM CAMI REVEALED A HISTORY OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE WITH ANGIOPLASTY PERFORMED 8/10/94, AND A HISTORY OF LOW BACK BACK PAIN FOR WHICH HE WAS PRESCRIBED LARGE AMOUNTS OF NARCOTIC PAINKILLERS. HE HAD NOT BEEN ISSUED A CURRENT MEDICAL CERTIFICATE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's impairment of judgment and performance due to drugs which led to his operating the airplane with a known mechanical deficiency.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/8/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1629 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | ST. CLAIR |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 63060 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ST. CLAIR REGIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | K39 |
| 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 | 654 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1552 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 30 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 463 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1442 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 9 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1405 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3631W |
| NTSB Number | CHI95LA120 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-260 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32-260 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-533 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 14 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | D. E. BONE, P. J. LEACH |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5331 CARDINAL RIDGE CIRCLE |
| Aircraft Owner City | ST. LOUIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 63119 |
| 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 | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | 1629 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | 2 |
| Runway Length | 3200 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |