Piper PA-28-180 N9375J

Summary

On 3 March 2023 at about 20:30 local time, a Piper PA-28-180 registered N9375J, operated by CFI Academy, was involved in an accident near San Andreas, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 March 2023 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

San Andreas, California, United States

Nearest airport

Calaveras County-Maury Rasmuss (CPU)

Coordinates

38.1464, -120.6474

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-180

Registration

N9375J

Category

Airplane

Year built

1966

Engines

1

Operator

CFI Academy

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Lodi

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR23LA121

2 people had minor injuries.

A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane had recently undergone extensive maintenance; the accident flight was a return leg to the pilot’s home airport after having flown the first leg earlier in the day. The initial departure was normal, and when reaching about 300 ft above ground level (agl), the engine suddenly lost power. The pilot attempted to return to the runway, but the airplane could not maintain altitude. The pilot performed an off-airport landing, and the airplane impacted terrain. A postaccident examination of the airplane and engine revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures. The carburetor was replaced two days before the accident; the examination did not find anomalies with the carburetor. There was no fuel found in the carburetor bowl, but it could not be determined if that was the condition at the time of impact or if the fuel system could deliver metered fuel to the engine. While the FAA's Carburetor Icing Chart revealed the probability of serious icing between cruise and glide power for the reported temperature and dew point conditions, the investigation could not conclusively determine that carburetor ice caused the loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.