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Atlas / NTSB / FTW81DRA44

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event FTW81DRA44

1981-07-14 HOUSTON, Texas, United States Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N38952

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

PIPER PA-28-161

Year of manufacture

1977 · 4 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19770726

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A47FDB

Registrant of record

PONTO PHILLIP R

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-28 · N38952

Damage

Destroyed

Craft type

Airplane

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

EE

Operator type

Part 91 (general aviation)

Airport

WEISER

Kind of flying

A1

Weather at impact

Sky

SCATTERED-ABOVE 1000 FEET

Wind

280° / 8 kt

Temp

85° F

Aircraft history

Serial number

0028-7716297

Total time

2,145 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Airline transport

Total hours

31

Age

35

Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)

UBSTANTIALLY DMG.

Investigator remarks

CESSNA 150,N3175V,VARGA KACHINA,8289J,& HANGER S

Cause factors

  • 64/C/46 C
    PILOT IN COMMAND MISJUDGED DISTANCE AND SPEED Cause
  • 64/B/82 B
    PILOT IN COMMAND FAILED TO INITIATE GO-AROUND
  • 64/L/31 L
    PILOT IN COMMAND LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH AIRCRAFT

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 1542. Source file NTSB_1981_3_1542.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.