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MIA89FA093 · Piper PA-28R-200

24 Feb 1989 · Inverness, FL, United States

Eagle Flight Center Piper PA-28R-200 · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) en route

From X31 · Crystal River, FL to Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB)

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Event

NTSB case
MIA89FA093
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-28R-200

Aircraft type
Piper PA-28
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
N43330
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From X31 · Crystal River, FLTo Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB), Daytona Beach, FL
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
En route · cruise
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
Wire, static; 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
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Company maintenance personnel › Maintenance, adjustment, improper
  • Engine assembly › Seized
  • Engine assembly, connecting rod › Disconnected
  • Fluid, oil › Loss, total
  • Lubricating system, oil line › Bent
  • Lubricating system, oil line › Fatigue
  • Lubricating system, oil line › Not secured
  • Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, installation, improper

Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Inverness, FL, the place the record names. Not the accident site.

NTSB narrative

DURING CRUISE FLT A TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER WAS EXPERIENCED. THE PLT WAS ATTEMPTING A FORCED LANDING WHEN THE ACFT CONTACTED ELECTRICAL WIRES AND A TREE PRIOR TO COLLIDING WITH THE TERRAIN. POST ACCIDENT INSPECTION REVEALED THE PROPELLER GOVERNOR OIL LINE CRACKED TO THE POINT THAT ENGINE OIL PUMPED OUT OF THE ENGINE WHICH SUBSEQUENTLY SEIZED. THE OIL LINE WAS INSTALLED AFTER ENGINE OVERHAUL WITHOUT TWO CLAMPS AND WAS BENT IN THE AREA WHERE THE ALTERNATOR BELT IS ADJUSTED. THE BENDING DAMAGE CAUSED A FATIGUE CRACK IN THE LINE AND THE LACK OF SUPPORT CLAMPS AIDED IN THE CRACKING PROCESS.

Probable cause

THE FAILURE OF THE PROPELLER GOVERNOR OIL LINE DUE TO FATIGUE WHICH WAS CAUSED BY BENDING DAMAGE TO THE LINE AND THE FAILURE OF MECHANICS TO INSTALL SUPPORT CLAMPS ON THE LINE WHICH CAUSED THE FATIGUE TO PROPAGATE AT A FASTER RATE.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record MIA89FA093
Event ID
20001213X27760
Case number
MIA89FA093
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 1989-02-25.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 700b627e26e578d17eccd12cd772cb3cc717a8aaca1dfdcbc4617348f204e913; retrieved 2026-09-21T15:57:57.658Z.