Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St. Louis Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Alton, Illinois 62002
Wednesday, August 15, 2007 6:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After the pilot initiated a descent, smoke began to emanate from under the left side of the instrument panel of the Piper PA-32R-301T. The primary flight display (PFD) then "blanked out" and the 10-amp PFD circuit breaker opened. The pilot declared an emergency, diverted to the closest airport, and landed uneventfully. The airplane had accrued 526 total hours of operation. Examination revealed a Transient Voltage Suppressor (TVS) had failed. The following month, the National Transportation Safety Board was advised of another TVS failure on an airplane that had accrued 132.5 total hours of operation. Research conducted by Safety Board investigators indicated that failures of the same part number TVS were occurring on multiple makes and models of airplanes, some of which had only approximately 20 total hours of operation. Review of manufacturer-supplied information revealed that the maximum ratings and electrical characteristics were compatible with the affected electrical systems; however, testing of failed TVS revealed that the TVS displayed instances of "shorting," "reverse leakage," "breakdown voltage," and "excessive leakage," damaged dies with some separated from the base disc, holes in the center of the die and/or in the silicon near the center of the die, and molten solder internally and/or physical damage to the individual sub assembly. As a result, the manufacturer implemented high-temperature reverse bias testing of all TVSs prior to delivery to reduce the probability of failure and advised their customers to remove from service any TVS with the same date codes as the failed units. Additionally, the airplane manufacturers and the Federal Aviation Administration took corrective actions to remove and replace faulty TVSs.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The component manufacturer's inadequate fabrication of the transient voltage suppressor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 8/15/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 600 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Alton |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 62002 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385326N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0901103W |
| Event Location Airport | St. Louis Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ALN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 544 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 605 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ALN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 544 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.88 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24844 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Piper Aircraft Corporation |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 22 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 29 2008 6:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | St. Louis, Missouri |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3120T |
| NTSB Number | NYC07IA199 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32R-301T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3257417 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 6 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 526 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dutchman Leasing LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Aurora |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60502 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Dutchman Leasing LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Aurora |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 60502 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ARR |
| Departure City | Aurora |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 500 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | STL |
| Destination City | St. Louis |
| Destination State | MO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 29 2008 6:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29 |
| Runway Length | 8101 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |