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Atlas / NTSB / CHI73FEE49

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CHI73FEE49

1973-04-04 ELGIN, Illinois, United States Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N9430N

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

PIPER PA-28R-200

Year of manufacture

1969 · 4 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING I0360 SER (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19690717

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AD1AB2

Registrant of record

OAKLEY AIR LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Historical record (pre-1982)

NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.

Aircraft

PIPER PA-28R · N9430N

Damage

Destroyed

Craft type

Airplane

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

Takeoff — initial climb (C1)

Operator type

Business

Airport

ELGIN AIRPORT

Kind of flying

B0

Weather at impact

Sky

CLEAR

Wind

240° / 17 kt

Temp

54° F

Aircraft history

Serial number

00028R-35142

Total time

340 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Commercial — instrument

Total hours

491

Age

38

Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)

L BTWN FUEL CAP SEAL AND FILLER NECK.

Investigator remarks

22OZ WATER DRAINED FROM L FUEL TANK.IMPROPER SEA

Cause factors

  • 64/C/29 C
    PILOT IN COMMAND INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PREPARATION AND/OR PLANNING Cause
  • 64/C/32 C
    PILOT IN COMMAND MISMANAGEMENT OF FUEL Cause
  • 88/C/87 C
    MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS WATER IN FUEL Cause
  • 68/L/D6 L
    PERSONNEL INADEQUATE MAINTENANCE AND INSPECTION
  • 74/L/CJ L
    POWERPLANT VENTS,DRAINS,TANK CAPS
  • 83/B/I B
    TERRAIN HIGH OBSTRUCTIONS

Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.

Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket 3 0706. Source file NTSB_1973_3_0706.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.