Plane Crash List

Piper PA-24-260 N8652P

23 March 1983 · Salt Flat, Texas, United States · Fatal

Summary

On 23 March 1983 at about 19:50 local time, a Piper PA-24-260 registered N8652P was involved in an accident near Salt Flat, Texas, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

The record

Date
at 19:50
Classification
Accident
Location
Salt Flat, Texas, United States
Coordinates
31.7407, -105.0790
Aircraft
Piper PA-24-260
Registration
N8652P
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
Not recorded
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Personal
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Tucson → Carlsbad
Aircraft damage
Destroyed
Weather
VMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
FTW83FA164

People

3 people died.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
3 3 0 0 0

Probable cause

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

BEFORE DEPARTING TUCSON, THE PLT WAS ADVISED OF 2 MARGINAL WX SYSTEMS ALONG HIS ROUTE. HE TOOK OFF AT 1038 MST. AT 1130,HE CONTACTED ATC & REPORTED AT 13,800'. FROM THEN UNTIL 1214, HIS ALT VARIED BETWEEN 10,000' & 16,000'. RADAR CONTACT WAS LOST AT 1228 WHILE HE WAS BELOW 10,000'. AT 1240, HE REPORTED AT 12,5000', THEN CLIMBED TO 14,500' TO REESTABLISH RADAR CONTACT WITH ATC. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, RADAR & RADIO CONTACT WERE LOST. SCHOOL CHILDREN SAW THE ACFT BEFORE IT CRASHED. ACCORDING TO THEM, IT WAS IN LEVEL FLT AT APRX 3000' AGL (7000' MSL), THEN PITCHED NOSE DOWN, BEGAN SPINNING & CRASHED. THEY DID NOT SEE ANYTHING SEPARATE FROM THE ACFT. AN EXAM REVEALED THE LEFT OUTBOARD WING PANEL & PART OF THE LEFT AILERON HAD SEPARATED IN FLT. THE OUTER PORTION OF THE LEFT HORIZONTAL STABILATOR HAD FOLDED UPWARD. THE WING PANELWAS FOUND 3.5 MI AWAY WITH EVIDENCE IT HAD FAILED UP & AFT. THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF MODERATE TO SEVERE TURBULENCE IN THE VICINITY OF MTNS. THE PLT HAD BEEN BRIEFED ON AREAS OF TURBULENCE, ICING, PRECPITAITON & DETERIORATING CEILINGS.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Piper PA-24 accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
27 Mar 1983 Piper PA-24-400
N8611P
Salem, Missouri, United States - Fatal 1
29 Jun 1983 Piper PA-24
N7284P
Fleeton, Virginia, United States - Fatal 2
25 Nov 1983 Piper PA-24-250
N6295T
Oceanside, California, United States
no coordinates
Aviation Unlimited Fatal 2
23 Jun 1983 Piper PA-24-250
N99SP
3M Se of Benton, Missouri, United States - Fatal 3
22 Oct 1983 Piper PA-24-250
N5763P
Lake Hills, Tennessee, United States - Fatal 2
16 Jun 1983 Piper PA-24-250
N47RR
Stehekin, Washington, United States Calvin A Merriman Fatal 2

All 2,700 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
16 Apr 1983 Douglas DC-8-63F
N773FT
Dfw Airport, Texas, United States - No injuries -
29 Aug 1983 Cessna 140
N3625V
Hitchcock, Texas, United States - No injuries -
30 Aug 1983 Aero Commander S2R
N3696X
Katy, Texas, United States - No injuries -
31 Aug 1983 Grumman G-164B
N48687
East Bernard, Texas, United States - Minor injuries -
23 Sep 1983 Boeing 727-223B
N897AA
Dallas/Ft Worth, Texas, United States
no coordinates
American Airlines, Inc. Minor injuries -
3 Mar 1983 Cessna 152
N6396Q
Killeen, Texas, United States - No injuries -

All 170,864 records in United States