Piper PA-28-180 N16319

Summary

On 20 July 2002 at about 18:45 local time, a Piper PA-28-180 registered N16319 was involved in an accident near Macomb, Michigan, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 July 2002 at 18:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Macomb, Michigan, United States

Nearest airport

Berz-Macomb (UIZ)

Coordinates

42.6597, -82.9104

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-180

Registration

N16319

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Macomb → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI02FA234

Nobody was injured.

The cracked vertical stabilizer and the unapproved maintenance modification to the rudder by company maintenance personnel.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane returned from a local flight with substantial damage resulting from a crack through its vertical stabilizer spar. The airplane was used throughout its service life as a rental/flight training airplane. The airplane and vertical stabilizer accumulated a total time of 13,810 hours. According to maintenance personnel, the crack was not present during the airplane’s last annual inspection, which was performed 7 hours before the flight. The crack is located approximately 6 inches above the base of the vertical stabilizer and extends horizontally approximately 1 1/2 inches from the right side of the stabilizer into the 3 1/2 inch spar. The maintenance personnel had installed a doubler at the root of the rudder as a preventative measure against skin cracks. Examination of the fracture surfaces were consistent with overstress fractures.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.