Piper PA-46-350P N9176Z

Summary

On 21 February 2001 at about 03:00 local time, a Piper PA-46-350P registered N9176Z, operated by Peyton B. Schur, was involved in an accident near Paso Robles, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 February 2001 at 03:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Paso Robles, California, United States

Nearest airport

Mac Gillivray (pvt) (Q89)

Coordinates

35.4672, -120.8514

Aircraft

Piper PA-46-350P

Registration

N9176Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Peyton B. Schur

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Paso Robles → Santa Ana

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX01FA103

1 person died.

The pilot/owner/operator's failure to maintain control of the airplane during the takeoff initial climb resulting in an in-flight collision with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the dark night light condition.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The accident occurred during a dark night departure from a private unlighted airstrip. The pilot had landed, assisted by the headlights of a car, on the landing strip/road about 1830. After dropping off a passenger, he departed about 1900. The departure direction was towards a sparsely populated area of rolling hills. Local area residents reported hearing a plane depart, followed by a loss of engine sound, and an impact in a grape vineyard. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the airplane impacted the ground in a nose down attitude. According to maintenance records, the last recorded annual inspection occurred 12 months and about 299.5 flight hours prior to the accident. Approximately 5 months before the accident, the FAA Certified Repair Station (CRS) that performed the maintenance on the airplane had given the pilot/owner a 15-item list of "grounding discrepancies." The discrepancies were: Cracked nose cowling; fraying seat belts; LH mag switch broken; LH window cracked; LH windshield crazed; stall warning inoperative; turbine inlet temperature inoperative; door latch safety inoperative; several hydraulic components leaking; main gear trunion pins worn; several cracks in wing lower skins; fuel leaks; loose rivets on RH flap; wing spar bolts loose; and elevator trim cable frayed. According to the CRS manager, the only item that had been repaired prior to the accident was the cracked nose cowling. However, an engine log entry indicated the TIT gage had also been replaced. Additionally, several witnesses reported that the pilot had been flying the airplane with an inoperative landing gear retract system for about 4 months. During post accident examination of the wreckage, investigators were able to verify that many of the listed discrepancies still existed; however, none of these discrepancies could be directly linked to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.