Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fabens Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fabens, Texas 79838
Sunday, March 4, 1990 12:45 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AFTER LIFTOFF, THE AIRPLANE APPEARED TO STOP CLIMBING AT ABOUT 90-100 FT AGL; ITS WINGS ROCKED SIDE-TO-SIDE, AND IT THEN PITCHED NOSE DOWN INTO THE GROUND. THE ENGINE WAS HEARD UNTIL IMPACT. MIXTURE CONTROL FOUND IN FULL RICH POSITION; DENSITY ALTITUDE APRX 5,000 FT. OIL STAIN FOUND NEAR PROP GOVERNOR; AD 90-04-06 AND LYCOMING SB NO. 488, PROP GOV LINE & ELBOW FITTING, NCW. ENGINE TEARDOWN SHOWED PROP GOV SCREEN BLOCKED WITH NUMEROUS CONTAMINANTS; METALLIC FLAKES ON OIL FILTER; CARB BODY DIRTY; CARB FLOAT ATTACH PIN WORN; PLUGS SHOWED RICH FUEL CONDITION; MAG TIMING 3 DEG OFF; INTAKE/EXHAUST ROCKER ARMS IMPROPERLY INSTALLED; PISTON RINGS WORN BEYOND LIFE LIMITS; NO.2 CYL TOP RING BROKEN; NUMEROUS ROD CAPS & BEARINGS INSTALLED BACKWARDS; ALL CRANK PINS WORN BEYOND SERVICE LIMITS; ALL MAIN BEARINGS WORN BEYOND SERVICE LIMITS. SERIAL NUMBER ON DATA PLATE DID NOT MATCH CASE NUMBER OF THE ENGINE. AIRPLANE WAS PURCHASED 1/23/90 BY THE PILOT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED DURING A TAKEOFF WITH LESS THAN FULL POWER RESULTING IN A STALL. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO LEAN THE MIXTURE TO COMPENSATE FOR THE HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE, AND THE GROSS IMPROPER, INADEQUATE MAINTENANCE THAT HAD BEEN PERFORMED ON THE ENGINE RESULTING IN AN UNAIRWORTHY ENGINE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/4/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1245 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | FABENS |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79838 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | FABENS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E35 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 3679 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 310 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ELP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3956 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| 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) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 5000 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2116 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 4 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1502 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 43562 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2001 8:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5354P |
| NTSB Number | FTW90FA077 |
| 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-24-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-24-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-402 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | RUFUS C. CAIN |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 516 W. TRAVIS P.O.BOX 340 |
| Operator City | DUBLIN |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 76446 |
| 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 | 1245 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 9F0 |
| Destination City | DUBLIN |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2001 8:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26 |
| Runway Length | 4200 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |