Piper PA-28RT-201 N4355N

Summary

On 29 August 1984 at about 15:57 local time, a Piper PA-28RT-201 registered N4355N, operated by Munci Aviation Co., was involved in an accident near Muncie, Indiana, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

29 August 1984 at 15:57

Classification

Accident

Location

Muncie, Indiana, United States

Nearest airport

Johnson Field

Coordinates

40.1907, -85.3909

Aircraft

Piper PA-28RT-201

Registration

N4355N

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Munci Aviation Co.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Dayton

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI84FA369

3 people died.

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

WITNESSES REPORTED THAT WHEN THE ACFT WAS TAKING OFF, THE ENG SOUNDED 'ROUGH & WAS BACKFIRING.' THEY OBSERVED THE ACFT CROSS THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RWY AT A LOWER ALT & SLOWER SPEED THAN WHAT THEY CONSIDERED AS NORMAL. THEY SAW THE ACFT'S WINGS ROCK, THEN OBSERVED THE ACFT TO ENTER A STEEP LEFT TURN BACK TOWARD THE ARPT. WHILE TURNING, THE GEAR EXTENDED AS THE ACFT WAS APPROACHING TO CROSS OVER A TREELINE. SHORTLY AFTER THAT, THE LEFT WING HIT A TREE (73 FT AGL), THEN THE ACFT CRASHED & WAS DEMOLISHED BY FIRE. DURING THE INVESTIGATION, AN EXAM OF THE WRECKAGE AND A TEARDOWN OF THE ENG DID NOT REVEAL THE REASON FOR THE POWER LOSS. BOTH FRONT SEAT OCCUPANTS WERE RATED PLTS. THE OCCUPANT IN THE LEFT FRONT SEAT DID NOT HAVE A CURRENT BFR, BUT THE RIGHT FRONT SEAT PLT WAS A CERTIFIED FLT INSTRUCTOR.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.