Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Highland County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hillsboro, Ohio 45133
Friday, May 30, 2008 11:58 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane had undergone five previous annual inspections performed by a mechanic where the airplane was based. The airplane departed its base airport to Hillsboro, Ohio, where the airplane's autopilot was worked on by an avionics repair station. After the repair had been done, both pilots departed Hillsboro, but returned after noticing smoke in the cockpit. A check of the cockpit and autopilot by an avionics technician did not reveal any discrepancies associated with those areas. The airplane then again departed Hillsboro. Witnesses reported that after takeoff there was smoke observed coming from the front of the airplane. The witnesses then saw the airplane bank left, descend, strike a tree with its left wing, and then impact in a fallow corn field about 1/2 mile south of the airport. An examination of the airplane's fuel selector showed that it was still in the "on" position. The flaps were in the fully retracted position, which was not consistent with the airplane manufacturer's fire and emergency landing procedures. An examination of the airplane revealed a hole in the muffler, which also exhibited a loss of material due to internal corrosion. The severity of the corrosion also suggests that the hole in the muffler should have been evident at earlier annual inspections.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane due to an in-flight fire as a result of a corrosion hole in the muffler that was not identified by the mechanic. Contributing to the accident was the improper emergency procedure performed for an in-flight fire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/30/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1158 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Hillsboro |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 45133 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 391120N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0833220W |
| Event Location Airport | Highland County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HOC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 977 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 326 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ILN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1077 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 25133 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 30 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2009 10:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Cincinnati FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9376W |
| NTSB Number | CHI08FA146 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA28 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 235 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-11068 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 26 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1210.4 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Pilot |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fairborn |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45324 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | USA |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | HOC |
| Departure City | Hillsboro |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 3OH0 |
| Destination City | New Carlisle |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 8 2009 10:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | galm |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |