Piper PA-25-235 N7634Z

Summary

On 14 August 2002 at about 13:50 local time, a Piper PA-25-235 registered N7634Z, operated by Jeffrey T. Knox, was involved in an accident near Ray, North Dakota, 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

14 August 2002 at 13:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Ray, North Dakota, United States

Nearest airport

Private Airstrip (XXX)

Coordinates

48.1778, -103.6422

Aircraft

Piper PA-25-235

Registration

N7634Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Jeffrey T. Knox

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ray → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI02CA248

Nobody was injured.

The pilot inadvertently stalled the airplane during takeoff. A factor was the tailwind.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane sustained substantial damage when the airplane stalled during takeoff and impacted the terrain. The pilot reported he had returned to the airstrip in order to fix a plugged spray nozzle. He landed on the southwest runway of the grass airstrip. Once the nozzle was fixed he departed to the northeast. He reported he departed on the northeast runway due to a construction crane located at the southwest end of the runway. He estimated he departed with a 3-4 knot tailwind. He reported, "Upon liftoff, enough airspeed was not obtained to be able to clear the tree row. Once out of ground effect, a stall occurred which may have come from a downdraft + or the possibility of a spark plug fowling while idling to fix nozzle." He reported, "Upon realizing the stall, power was pulled back + had to land in grain field."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.