Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fort Pierce, Florida 33449
Tuesady, May 9, 1989 11:53 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE FLT WAS FOR CREW COORDINATION TRAINING & WAS ADMINISTERED BY FLT SAFETY INTL FOR AER LINGUS, A FOREIGN AIRLINE. AN INSTRUCTOR (CFI) & 2 FOREIGN PLTS WERE ABOARD (STUDENTS HAD PREVIOUSLY GOTTEN U.S. CERTS WITH SINGLE/MULTI-ENG RATINGS).BEFORE THE ACDNT, THE ACFT WAS HDG NE. RADAR DATA SHOWED THAT IT TURNED EAST WHILE MAINTAINING A CONSTANT ALT OF 3500'. AFTER TURNING EAST, ITS GND SPD SLOWED TO 53 KTS. THE ACFT THEN BEGAN A RGT TURN AT A RATE OF 125 DEG/MIN. AFTER TURNINGSOUTH, THE ACFT'S GND SPD SLOWED TO 37 KTS. THE ACFT THEN ENTERED A DSCNT, WHICH INCREASED TO 8000'/MIN. WITNESSES SAW THE ACFT SPINNING LEFT, IN A NOSE DWN ATTITUDE, BEFORE IT IMPACTED IN THE OCEAN. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE/MALFUNCTION WAS FND. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT DRG IMPACT, NEITHER ENG WAS OPERG, FLAPS WERE EXTNDD 10 DEG, MAIN GEAR WAS EXTNDD & THENOSE GEAR WAS IN TRANSIT. THE ACFT MANUFACTURER RPRTD THAT A SPIN MAY CAUSE AN INTERRUPTION OF FUEL TO THE ENGS BY EXCEEDING THE CARB LIMITATIONS. INTENTIONAL SPINS WERE PROHIBITED. VMC & STALL SPDS WERE 56 & 54 KTS, RESPECTIVELY.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
INADEQUATE SUPERVISION BY THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT (CFI), AND FAILURE OF THE CREW TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT AIRSPEED, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADVERTENT STALL/SPIN AND SUBSEQUENT LOSS OF ENGINE POWER FROM POSSIBLE INTERRUPTION OF FUEL.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/9/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1153 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | FORT PIERCE |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33449 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1154 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VRB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 25 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1300 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1304 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 9 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 39599 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2231M |
| NTSB Number | MIA89FA146 |
| 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-44-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-44-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 44-7995217 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3800 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 28 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 36 |
| Airframe Hours | 2785 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FLIGHT SAFETY INTERNATIONAL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 2708 |
| Aircraft Owner City | VERO BEACH |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32961 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | FLIGHT SAFETY INTERNATIONAL |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 2708 |
| Operator City | VERO BEACH |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 32961 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | VRB |
| Departure City | VERO BEACH |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 944 |
| 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 | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | 0 |
| Runway Width | 0 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |