Piper PA-28-180 N5388L
13 July 1996 · Palm Springs, California, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 13 July 1996 at about 01:10 local time, a Piper PA-28-180 registered N5388L, operated by Sun Air Aviation, Inc., was involved in an accident near Palm Springs, California, United States. 2 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 01:10
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Palm Springs, California, United States
- Coordinates
- 33.8497, -116.5600
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-28-180
- Registration
- N5388L
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Sun Air Aviation, Inc.
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Bermuda Dunes → Camarillo
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- LAX96LA347
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Probable cause
the failure of a propeller blade as a result of undetected in-service mechanical damage that caused a stress point that progressed to a point of failure.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The pilot reported that during the departure climb about 2,500 feet msl, there was a loud bang, followed by severe airframe vibration. The pilot closed the throttle and pulled the mixture control into idle cutoff. The pilot established a glide and made an uneventful off-airport landing. Postaccident examination revealed that about 20 inches of one propeller blade was missing. The remaining propeller blade and hub was sent the Safety Board's Materials Testing Laboratory for analysis. The analysis report documented a crack progression starting at the blade's trailing edge and migrating forward through about 50 percent of the chord. At that point the blade failed from overload. The report indicated that a mechanical type damage had occurred at the trailing edge crack initiation point. According to the records, at the time of this accident the engine and the propeller had accumulated 307.24 hours since overhaul.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Piper PA-28 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Apr 1996 | Piper PA-28 | Wasilla, Alaska, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 8 Aug 1996 | Piper PA-28-181 | Muncie, Indiana, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |
| 12 Oct 1996 | Piper PA-28-140 | Kumamoto, Japan | McAs Flying Club | Serious injuries | - |
| 3 Oct 1996 | Piper PA-28-140 | Plymouth, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 6 Oct 1996 | Piper PA-28-180 | Ely, Nevada, United States | Michael E. Scholl | Serious injuries | - |
| 20 Aug 1996 | Piper PA-28-180 | Hartford, Michigan, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
All 9,402 records for this type
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Mar 1996 | Maule M-6-235 | Bishop, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 11 Oct 1996 | Cessna 210A | Truckee, California, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 8 Mar 1996 | Cessna 152 | Santa Paula, California, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 13 Mar 1996 | Cessna T210M | Grass Valley, California, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 14 Mar 1996 | Cessna 172L | Napa, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 6 Oct 1996 | North American F-86 | Salinas, California, United States | Clyde S. Eberhardt | No injuries | - |