Piper PA-24-180 N6977P

Summary

On 10 June 1998 at about 15:45 local time, a Piper PA-24-180 registered N6977P was involved in an accident near Taunton, Massachusetts, 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.

Date

10 June 1998 at 15:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Taunton, Massachusetts, United States

Nearest airport

Taunton (TAN)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Piper PA-24-180

Registration

N6977P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Norwood

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC98LA126

Nobody was injured.

a delayed decision by the pilot to abort the takeoff, which resulted in an overrun. A factor was false reading from the airspeed indicator.

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 takeoff roll, he glanced at the airspeed, and saw that it was still indicating zero although the airplane was accelerating. He said he closed the throttle, and applied brakes. The airplane departed the end of the 1,550 feet long turf/gravel runway, and went down an embankment. Post-accident examination of the airplane revealed that the pitot tube, which was located under the left wing was missing. A search of the area including the taxi route of the airplane for departure, and the accident site failed to locate the pilot tube. A witness who observed the takeoff reported that at mid-field, the airplane appeared slower than normal, and he did not hear a power reduction until the airplane has used 3/4 of the available runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.