Piper PA-28-161 accident near Elkmont, AL
On November 30, 2013, a Piper PA-28-161 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Elkmont, AL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- November 30, 2013
- Place
- Elkmont, AL
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-28-161 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 34.926°N, 86.970°W
- NTSB ID
- 20131130X60054
Official records · ERA14LA057
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn November 30, 2013, at 1316 central standard time, a Piper PA-28-161, N8878E, was destroyed when it impacted terrain in Elkmont, Alabama. The private pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the flight from Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU), Decatur, Alabama, to Abernathy Field (GZS), Pulaski, Tennessee. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. According to the responding Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the pilot was moving the recently-purchased airplane to the destination airport where it would be permanently based. According to a witness, he was outside his house when he saw the airplane, "extremely low, below 100 feet, at high speed doing knife edge turns." The airplane was maneuvering for about 5 minutes, then maneuvered directly above the witness, recovered from one apparent stall, and flew off to the east. About 3 minutes later, the airplane returned and flew the same maneuvers. It made two to three "tight" turns at a low level and high speed, then went wings level. The witness then heard a "pop" and the engine quit. The airplane nosed down, the witness lost sight of it behind trees, and 2 to 3 seconds later he heard a crash. Global positioning system (GPS) data, recorded about every 3 seconds, indicated that near the end of the flight, the airplane was headed west-southwest, and passed by some farm buildings near a small community at 1,142 feet above mean sea level (msl) or about 270 feet above ground level
Probable cause
A stuck exhaust valve, which resulted in a total loss of engine power at low altitude. Contributing to the accident were the pilot’s decision to fly at a low altitude, which reduced his forced landing options when the loss of engine power occurred; and poor long-term engine maintenance, which resulted in the buildup of combustion by-products on exhaust valve parts. Contributing to the pilot’s poor
More accidents in AL
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Browse: Alabama · Piper aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
