Piper PA-22-135 N3329B

Summary

On 14 June 2002 at about 17:02 local time, a Piper PA-22-135 registered N3329B was involved in an accident near Brownsville, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

14 June 2002 at 17:02

Classification

Accident

Location

Brownsville, California, United States

Nearest airport

Brownsville Airport (Q21)

Coordinates

39.4592, -121.2967

Aircraft

Piper PA-22-135

Registration

N3329B

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Brownsville → Brownsville

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX02LA197

1 person died.

a loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. Also causal was the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed during a turn to reverse course back to the runway, resulting in a stall and collision with terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane impacted terrain during an attempted return to runway maneuver following a loss of engine power shortly after departing the airstrip. A witness observed the pilot takeoff and, when the airplane was about 800 feet above ground level, he heard the engine sputter. The airplane made a turn to the left, which was consistent with the pilot attempting to return back to the runway. The engine stopped completely, and the airplane's bank attitude increased. As the airplane continued in a turn, the airspeed became slow and the left wing appeared to lose lift. The airplane stalled into the ground, with the nose impacting the terrain vertically. Upon impact, a post impact fire consumed the airplane. The pilot's neighbor recalled talking to the pilot about 15 minutes prior to the accident flight. She stated that the pilot expressed to her that he was having trouble with the airplane, and that he could not seem to identify what the problem was. The pilot was reportedly performing the maintenance on the airplane. The airplane's engine had been running rough, which the pilot was attributing to be a result of water in the fuel system, or due to a carburetor problem. No mechanical discrepancies were found in the thermally destroyed wreckage.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.