Aviation Crash Map

Piper PA 18-150 N5385Y

7 March 2015 · Merced, California, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 7 March 2015 at about 19:30 local time, a Piper PA 18-150 registered N5385Y, operated by Tarasievich Daniel, was involved in an accident near Merced, California, 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.

The record

Date
at 19:30
Classification
Accident
Location
Merced, California, United States
Coordinates
37.5833, -120.3833
Aircraft
Piper PA 18-150
Registration
N5385Y
Category
Airplane
Year built
1964
Engines
1
Operator
Tarasievich Daniel
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Personal
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Groveland → Groveland
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
WPR15LA126

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
1 0 0 0 1

Probable cause

The separation of the flight control stick from the stub due to its improper installation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the private pilot, during the personal flight in the airplane, he applied back pressure to the flight control stick to climb the airplane over an approaching hill, but the control stick separated at the stub. The pilot attempted to reinsert the control stick onto the stub while simultaneously adding power to climb, but the airplane impacted terrain, slid, and came to rest along the hillside. Postaccident examination of the flight control stick revealed that the through bolt that secured the control stick to the stub was still secured to the control stick but not to the stub. There was no damage or deformation to the control stick or through bolt. Given the lack of damage to the flight control stick and through bolt, it is likely that the control stick was not properly installed during a maintenance activity; however, the maintenance logbook entries did not specify when the control stick was last removed.  

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

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All 2,950 records for this type

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All 170,864 records in United States