Piper PA-28-140 N1793J

Summary

On 18 July 1998 at about 05:00 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N1793J was involved in an accident near Bethel, Alaska, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 July 1998 at 05:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Bethel, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

60.8106, -161.8492

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N1793J

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Canyon Creek → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC98LA101

4 people had minor injuries.

The fracture of the flap handle position locking pin, which resulted in an uncommanded raising of the flaps during takeoff. A factor was the pilot's decision to takeoff with a suspected problem in the flap system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot experienced binding in the flaps during landing. Unable to find a problem, he decided to takeoff on his return flight. During initial climb, the manually operated flaps abruptly retracted. The pilot was unable to hold the flaps in the extended position to climb, and the airplane contacted trees located in the departure path. Investigation revealed that the flap position locking pin, part number 480-715 (59-040-187-1500), had fallen from its hole, but the retaining roll pin was still in place. The only way to remove this pin from the hole is to first remove the retaining pin, or fracture it in two pieces. The missing pin was not recovered, but a photograph shows a similar dimensioned pin lying below the flap handle assembly.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.