Piper PA-16 N5648H

Summary

On 11 May 1982 at about 17:15 local time, a Piper PA-16 registered N5648H, operated by Charles A. Sweet, was involved in an accident near Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

11 May 1982 at 17:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States

Nearest airport

Coronado (4CR)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Piper PA-16

Registration

N5648H

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Charles A. Sweet

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Ferry

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Albuquerque → Flagstaff

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW82FQA19

1 person had minor injuries.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

BOTH OF THE OCCUPANTS WERE RATED PILOTS AND HAD JUST PURCHASED THE AIRCRAFT. THEY WERE FERRYING THE PLANE FROM NEW YORK STATE TO CALIFORNIA. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT DURING TAKEOFF, HE LIFTED OFF NEAR THE MID-POINT OF THE RUNWAY AND HELD A FLAT ATTITUDE TO GAIN AIRSPEED. HE FELT THAT THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH CLIMB DEVELOPING TO GET OVER TREES AND TURNED LEFT 15 DEGREES. WITNESSES REPORTED THAT THE PLANE TOOK OFF AT A RELATIVELY SLOW SPEED AND NEVER SEEMED TO ACCELERATE. AFTER TURNING, THE PLANE MUSHED INTO STEADILY RISING TERRAIN. AN INSPECTION OF THE ENGINE CONTROLS REVEALED THAT THE FUEL PRIMER WAS IN AN UNLOCKED POSITION. THIS COULD HAVE RESULTED IN A RICH MIXTURE RESULTING IN A LOSS OF POWER. THE DENSITY ALTITUDE WAS ABOUT 6800 FT.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.