Piper PA-24 N7660P

Summary

On 20 June 2009 at about 21:37 local time, a Piper PA-24 registered N7660P, operated by Marc S. Comegys, was involved in an accident near Urbana, Ohio, United States. 4 people were 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 June 2009 at 21:37

Classification

Accident

Location

Urbana, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Grimes Field Airport (I74)

Coordinates

40.1261, -83.7519

Aircraft

Piper PA-24

Registration

N7660P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Marc S. Comegys

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Urbana → Springfield

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN09CA378

Nobody was injured.

A failure of the carburetor heat cable attach bracket which resulted in the inadvertent activation of carburetor heat and the subsequent loss of engine power during takeoff. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's operation of the aircraft with a known deficiency.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that during the engine run-up prior to the first flight of the day, he noted that there was no resistance on the control knob when he checked the operation of the carburetor heat and that there was a slightly “sluggish” return in the engine rpms as it returned to normal. The engine operated normally during this flight. When he applied carburetor heat during the engine run-up for the second flight of the day, he noticed that the rpm needle "wiggled down 50" then returned to the set rpm. Everything appeared normal during the takeoff until the airplane reached about 200 feet above the runway, when it felt a little “soggy.” The pilot stated that he raised the landing gear to reduce drag, but it did not seem like the engine was producing power. The pilot then extended the landing gear and decided to land the airplane in a field off the end of the runway. The landing gear, which was not locked down, collapsed during the landing and the left wing was substantially damaged when it contacted a runway end identifier light. Postaccident inspection of the airplane and engine revealed that the carburetor heat bracket between the valve shaft and the cable was fractured and missing. The carburetor heat valve was in the open position.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.