Atlas / NTSB / CHI81FA035

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CHI81FA035

1981-03-18 LOWELL, Michigan, United States Fatal 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N2023P

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

VAN'S AIRCRAFT RV-8

Year of manufacture

2024

Engine

LYCOMING YIO-360 EXP (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20240812

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A19C40

Registrant of record

FOSHEE PHILLIP D JR

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N2023P Piper PA-23 Fatal

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-23 · N2023P

Damage

Destroyed

Craft type

Airplane

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

Takeoff — initial climb (C1)

Operator type

D

Airport

LOWELL CITY

Kind of flying

B0

Weather at impact

Sky

BROKEN

Wind

340° / 13 kt

Temp

26° F

Aircraft history

Serial number

00000023-598

Total time

4,036 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Commercial

Total hours

577

Age

30

Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)

R.IPA ADDED BFR FUEL,SHOULD MIX DRG REFUELING.RUST

Investigator remarks

FLUID,ODOR OF ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL(IPA)IN GASCOLATO

Cause factors

68/C/D2 C
PERSONNEL IMPROPERLY SERVICED AIRCRAFT (GROUND CREW) Cause
64/C/29 C
PILOT IN COMMAND INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PREPARATION AND/OR PLANNING Cause
88/C/64 C
MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS FUEL CONTAMINATION-EXCLUSIVE OF WATER IN FUEL Cause
64/B/16 B
PILOT IN COMMAND FAILED TO OBTAIN/MAINTAIN FLYING SPEED

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 0529. Source file NTSB_1981_3_0529.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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