Piper PA 28-140 N7PM

Summary

On 25 November 2015 at about 17:00 local time, a Piper PA 28-140 registered N7PM was involved in an accident near Wickenburg, Arizona, United States. 2 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

25 November 2015 at 17:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Wickenburg, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Wickenburg Muni (E25)

Coordinates

33.9642, -112.8094

Aircraft

Piper PA 28-140

Registration

N7PM

Category

Airplane

Year built

1964

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wickenburg → Wickenburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR16LA033

Nobody was injured.

A partial loss of engine power due to a separation of the mixture control cable clamp, which was either not installed or secured correctly during maintenance.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor and private pilot were approaching the airport for landing. According to the flight instructor, when the pilot applied engine power to arrest the airplane's descent, the engine did not respond. Because the airplane was not within gliding distance of the runway, the pilots performed an emergency landing on desert terrain, sustaining substantial damage to both wings, the fuselage, and empennage. Examination of the engine revealed that the carburetor mixture control cable clamp, which should have been located between the firewall and the carburetor mixture control arm, was missing. Without the clamp, the mixture control cable could flex, which resulted in no corresponding movement of the arm when the mixture control lever was adjusted in the cockpit. A test of the engine with a makeshift clamp revealed no anomalies. It is likely that, because the airplane had flown about 1 hour before the accident, the mixture control cable clamp separated during the flight, and the mixture control arm became stuck in a reduced-fuel position, resulting in a partial loss of engine power. The engine had been reinstalled on the airplane about 1 hour tachometer time before the accident. It is likely that the clamp was improperly installed or secured at that time.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.