Piper PA 28-161 N465TC

Summary

On 25 March 2008 at about 00:40 local time, a Piper PA 28-161 registered N465TC, operated by Florida Flight Training Center, was involved in an accident near Venice, Florida, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 March 2008 at 00:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Venice, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Venice Municipal Airport (VNC)

Coordinates

27.0783, -82.4667

Aircraft

Piper PA 28-161

Registration

N465TC

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Florida Flight Training Center

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Venice → Venice

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

NYC08FA148

1 person died.

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

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

Read the full 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.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.