Accident · 1991-07-12

What the record says

Event date

1991-07-12

Event type

Accident

Highest injury level

Fatal injury

Aircraft

PIPER PA-32RT-300T (N36272)

Operating rule

Part 91

Operator

operator not named in the NTSB record

Probable cause

THE FAILURE OF THE NUMBER ONE CYLINDER FUEL INJECTOR LINE DUE TO FATIGUE CRACKING INDUCED BY CORROSION AND PROPAGATED BY CYCLIC LOADING WHICH RESULTED IN A TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. THE CORROSION WAS DUE TO THE MANUFACTURER'S PROCESS OF BRAZING THE METAL JOINT, AND THE CYCLIC LOADING WAS DUE TO THE ABSENCE OF A CLAMP TO MINIMIZE THE EFFECT OF VIBRATION. A CONTIBUTING FACTOR WAS THE LACK OF SUITABLE TERRAIN DURING THE SUBSEQUENT FORCED LANDING.

Flight crew

Flight-crew details for this event aren't in the NTSB database extract we hold (its coverage starts with 2008 events) — a gap in our data, not an absence of crew.