Plane Crash List

Piper PA-23-160 N5272A

30 September 1994 · West Chicago, Illinois, United States · No injuries

Summary

On 30 September 1994 at about 01:50 local time, a Piper PA-23-160 registered N5272A was involved in an accident near West Chicago, Illinois, United States. 3 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.

The record

Date
at 01:50
Classification
Accident
Location
West Chicago, Illinois, United States
Nearest airport
Dupage (DPA)
Coordinates
41.8806, -88.2198
Aircraft
Piper PA-23-160
Registration
N5272A
Category
Airplane
Engines
2
Operator
Not recorded
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Personal
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
St Louis → Unknown
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Night/Dark
NTSB number
CHI94LA351

People

Nobody was injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
3 0 0 0 3

Probable cause

the pilot's failure to use the manual hydraulic pump to lower the landing gear. Factors were the failure of the fuel selector handle, the subsequent fuel starvation, and the pilot's failure to properly crossfeed and restart the left engine.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE PILOT REPORTED THAT THE LEFT ENGINE LOST POWER DURING DESCENT. AFTER SEVERAL UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO RESTORE ENGINE POWER THE PILOT CLOSED THE THROTTLE AND FEATHERED THE LEFT PROPELLER. HE SAID HE LOWERED THE LANDING GEAR HANDLE AND OBTAINED SAFE GEAR INDICATIONS DURING THE SINGLE ENGINE APPROACH, BUT DID NOT USE THE EMERGENCY HYDRAULIC PUMP. DURING THE LANDING, THE NOSE GEAR COLLAPSED. INVESTIGATION REVEALED BOTH AUXILIARY FUEL TANKS WERE NEARLY EMPTY AND THE MAIN FUEL TANKS WERE ABOUT HALF FULL. THE TWO RIVETS WHICH MOUNT THE LEFT FUEL SELECTOR HANDLE HAD FAILED, RENDERING THE SELECTOR INOPERATIVE. FUNCTIONAL TESTS OF THE LANDING GEAR, HYDRAULIC, AND FUEL SYSTEMS, INCLUDING THE CROSSFEED, REVEALED NO OTHER EVIDENCE OF MALFUNCTION.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

Other Piper PA-23 accidents

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
18 Jun 1994 Piper PA-23-250
N62701
Warren Grove, New Jersey, United States
no coordinates
Barbosa, Francisco Fatal 2
4 Apr 1994 Piper PA-23-250
N5399Y
Alliance, Nebraska, United States James W. Furman Fatal 2
19 Jun 1994 Piper PA-23-250
N63872
Blowing Rock, North Carolina, United States - No injuries -
13 Mar 1994 Piper PA-23
N2297P
Duncan, Oklahoma, United States
no coordinates
Brewer, JIM L. No injuries -
16 Apr 1994 Piper PA-23-250
N4857P
Margate, Florida, United States - Minor injuries -
19 Feb 1994 Piper PA-23-250
N303AT
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
no coordinates
Proflight, Inc. No injuries -

All 1,716 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
16 Jul 1994 Piper PA-28-140
N7079R
Kankakee, Illinois, United States Koerner Aviation, Inc. Minor injuries -
17 Jul 1994 Cessna 150
N3639V
Alton, Illinois, United States - No injuries -
19 Apr 1994 Remote Sensing CIRRUS VK-30
N108P
Lk In the Hills, Illinois, United States - Fatal 2
22 Jul 1994 Cessna 175
N7101M
Cottage Hill, Illinois, United States - Serious injuries -
15 Jul 1994 Piper PA-22
N8512C
Harvard, Illinois, United States Edwin D. Swart No injuries -
5 Jul 1994 Hucke Ronald L PARSON-2P
N589RH
Monmouth, Illinois, United States - Minor injuries -

All 170,864 records in United States