Piper PA-28R-180 N4914J

Summary

On 27 November 2000 at about 22:30 local time, a Piper PA-28R-180 registered N4914J, operated by Vincent T. Vorsino, was involved in an accident near Merritt Island, Florida, United States. One person was 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

27 November 2000 at 22:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Merritt Island, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Merritt Island (COI)

Coordinates

28.3195, -80.6792

Aircraft

Piper PA-28R-180

Registration

N4914J

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Vincent T. Vorsino

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL01LA014

Nobody was injured.

Maintenance personnel failure to properly install engine cowling fasteners, which allowed the engine cowling to separate in flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, this was his second flight of the day. He taxied to runway 29 and departed to the west. He said he noted nothing out of the ordinary on takeoff or climb out until reaching about 500 feet when the engine cowling separated from the airplane. The cowling broke off a piece of the right windscreen, spun off and hit the baggage door and finally collided with the stabilator. Examination of the upper cowling revealed that three of the four fastener assembly studs were missing. A review of the airplane maintenance logs revealed that the cowling had been removed to service the hydraulic brakes on November 17, 2000 about 7 flight hours before the mishap.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.