CHI96LA262 · Piper PA-J3C
Piper PA-J3C · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) during initial climb
From Camp Lake Airport (49C) to an unrecorded destination
Event
- NTSB case
- CHI96LA262
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Piper PA-J3C
- Aircraft type
- Piper PA-J3C
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N3445K
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Camp Lake Airport (49C)To not recorded
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Initial climb
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Total loss of engine power (mechanical failure)
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Tree(s)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Engine assembly, piston › Seized
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Camp Lake, WI, the place the record names. Not the accident site.
NTSB narrative
The pilot reported that the number two cylinder and piston had just been replaced on the engine. He preflighted the aircraft, then did a twenty minute engine run-up. He then departed for a test flight around the airport. During the climb, the engine began to 'slow down,' so the pilot started a turn back to the airport. While he was in the turn, the engine seized. The pilot reported that due to lack of altitude, he was unable to reach a clear area, and he was forced to land in trees. Examination of the engine revealed that the number two piston had seized in the cylinder. The number 2 cylinder's bore was reported to be 0.007 inch over standard, and the piston was 0.015 inch oversize. The piston was galled as a result of the engine seizure. The cylinder and piston, which were used for repair, were used parts. The mechanic who had installed the parts reported that adequate clearances had existed.
Probable cause
seizure of the number 2 piston. Inadequate maintenance was a related factor.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CHI96LA262
- Event ID
- 20001208X06198
- Case number
- CHI96LA262
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1996-07-31.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 60c7398e458929a7cff82cf51a8d245b521021f2fddef96f54c0e01b3ab4d72c; retrieved 2026-09-21T21:38:11.036Z.