Pilot Debrief

PIPER PA 28-161 near Venice, FL — 2008-03-25

Final reportNYC08FA148
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Date
2008-03-25
Location
Venice, FL, USA
Airport
VNC
Aircraft
PIPER PA 28-161
Registration
N465TC
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Fatal
Fatalities
1

Probable cause

The pilot's inflight loss of control for undetermined reasons.

NTSB narrative

The airplane departed the coastal airport on a dark night, and turned over open water, in a left traffic pattern for runway 31. During the initial climb, on a mid-field downwind leg for the runway, the airplane departed controlled flight and impacted the water. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions. The vacuum pump vanes were intact; however, the entire vacuum system could not be tested due to impact damage. During a previous flight, another pilot noted an error with the accident airplane's directional gyro (DG). Specifically, the DG moved approximately 10 degrees off for every 5 or 10 minutes of time that elapsed. The unit was replaced and the other pilot noted a DG error on a subsequent flight; however, it was not as bad as the previous flight. The National Transportation Safety Board received no other reports of the DG error. The accident pilot had approximately 4,000 hours of total flight experience and 2 hours of total flight time in 90 days prior to the accident flight.

NTSB coding

View NTSB final report

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