Piper PA 32-300 N112DE

Summary

On 5 July 2017 at about 18:40 local time, a Piper PA 32-300 registered N112DE was involved in an accident near Rushville, Indiana, 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

5 July 2017 at 18:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Rushville, Indiana, United States

Coordinates

39.8681, -85.7550

Aircraft

Piper PA 32-300

Registration

N112DE

Category

Airplane

Year built

1979

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Wayne → Jeffersonville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN17LA271

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s inability to properly control engine power because of an improperly installed throttle control arm, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power and led to a forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airline transport pilot and two passengers were on a cross-country flight. While the airplane was descending, the pilot attempted to level off, but the engine did not respond to his throttle input. The pilot decided to divert and began troubleshooting the engine. The pilot could decrease engine power with throttle movement but could not restore engine power with throttle movement. Subsequently, the throttle would not advance past three-fourths of the distance to full throttle application, and the airplane was unable to maintain its altitude. Because the airplane would be unable to reach a nearby airfield, the pilot performed a forced landing to a field, during which the airplane's firewall was substantially damaged. Postaccident examination of the airplane found that the throttle control arm was improperly fastened, resulting in throttle arm slippage, which precluded proper control of the engine. It could not be determined if the throttle arm was improperly fastened during the airplane's last annual inspection, which occurred about 3.5 months before the accident. The airplane had accumulated 12 hours of flight time since the inspection.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.