Piper PA28 N6653J

Summary

On 7 July 2017 at about 19:45 local time, a Piper PA28 registered N6653J was involved in an accident near Gainsville, Georgia, 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

7 July 2017 at 19:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Gainsville, Georgia, United States

Coordinates

34.2267, -83.7433

Aircraft

Piper PA28

Registration

N6653J

Category

Airplane

Year built

1968

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hilliard → Gainesville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA17LA278

Nobody was injured.

The separation of the mixture control cable from the mixture control lever at the carburetor, which resulted in the partial loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was conducting a solo cross-country personal flight. The pilot reported that, when the airplane was about 10 miles from the destination airport, he moved the mixture control handle and that it felt like it caught on something. He pushed on the handle harder until it moved to full rich, but the engine power reduced to idle. He added that, while attempting to troubleshoot the problem by moving the mixture control handle back to the point where he thought it had gotten caught to see if would happen again, he heard a "pop" sound, followed by a partial loss of engine power. His attempts to restore engine power were unsuccessful. He then maneuvered the airplane for a forced landing in a field, during which the left wing sustained substantial damage. Postaccident examination of the engine compartment by the pilot, who was also a certificated mechanic and had performed the airplane's last 100-hour inspection, revealed that the mixture control cable had separated from the mixture control lever at the carburetor. The attachment hardware was not recovered. The pilot reported that, when he inspected the engine controls at the carburetor during the 100-hour inspection (about 30 to 40 flight hours before the accident flight), they were all properly secured. No maintenance was conducted on the mixture control at the carburetor after the inspection was completed. The separation of the mixture control cable from the mixture control lever at the carburetor likely resulted in the partial loss of engine power. The reason for the separation of the mixture control cable from the mixture control lever at the carburetor could not be determined because the attachment hardware was not recovered.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.