Piper PA 25-235 N4652Y

Summary

On 21 August 2015 at about 00:00 local time, a Piper PA 25-235 registered N4652Y, operated by Jakes Flying Service, was involved in an accident near Harvey, North Dakota, 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

21 August 2015 at 00:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Harvey, North Dakota, United States

Coordinates

47.7875, -99.9361

Aircraft

Piper PA 25-235

Registration

N4652Y

Category

Airplane

Year built

1967

Engines

1

Operator

Jakes Flying Service

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Harvey → Harvey

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15LA383

Nobody was injured.

The partial loss of engine power due to a failed magneto and two cylinders with low compression. Contributing to the accident was the pilot/owner’s decision to operate the airplane with an ongoing engine issue.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot/owner noted that, during previous flights in the agricultural application airplane, he had heard a "wheezing" sound coming from the engine. During a conversation with a mechanic about the issue, the mechanic stated that the abnormal engine sound could have been due to an issue with an engine valve. Although an annual inspection was completed after the pilot first noted the issue, no maintenance was conducted to resolve the issue. Despite this, the pilot chose to continue flying the airplane. The pilot reported that, while en route to the destination field during the accident flight, he heard a noise come from the engine, followed by a partial loss of power as the engine shuddered. He subsequently made a forced landing to a wheat field. A postaccident engine examination revealed that the right magneto was not functioning, and two of the cylinders did not pass compression checks. The loss of engine power is consistent with a failed magneto and two cylinders with low compression.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.