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Atlas / NTSB / FTW67A0045

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event FTW67A0045

1966-10-14 MARFA, Texas, United States Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N8761F

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

PIPER PA-28-181

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19761209

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AC0F21

Registrant of record

COOK WILLIAM M

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

HUGHES 269A · N8761F

Damage

Destroyed

Craft type

Balloon

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

B7

Operator type

Business

Airport

MARFA MUNI

Kind of flying

DD

Weather at impact

Sky

CLEAR

Wind

300° / 20 kt

Temp

65° F

Aircraft history

Total time

526 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Commercial — instrument

Total hours

114

Age

45

Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)

AILABLE TO MAKE SAFE LANDING.

Investigator remarks

PLT LANDED ACFT ON ONE SKID. INSUFFICIENT RPM AV

Cause factors

  • 74/C/BA C
    POWERPLANT MAGNETOS Cause
  • 74/C/BC C
    POWERPLANT SPARK PLUG Cause
  • 88/C/98 C
    MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS IMPROPER CLEARANCE-TOLERANCE Cause
  • 88/C/AR C
    MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS CARBON DEPOSITS Cause
  • 68/C/D6 C
    PERSONNEL INADEQUATE MAINTENANCE AND INSPECTION Cause
  • 64/C/29 C
    PILOT IN COMMAND INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PREPARATION AND/OR PLANNING Cause
  • 88/B/AX B
    MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS GROUND RESONANCE
  • 82/L/W L
    WEATHER HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE

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 2 0927. Source file NTSB_1966_2_0927.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.