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Atlas / NTSB / MKC69F0027

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event MKC69F0027

1968-06-15 FESTUS, Missouri, United States Fatal 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N8680E

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

PIPER PA-28R-200

Year of manufacture

1976

Engine

LYCOMING I0360 SER (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19760220

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S ABEEEC

Registrant of record

GIBSON KEVIN S

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

STITS SA3A · N8680E

Damage

Destroyed

Craft type

Airplane

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

D7

Operator type

D

Airport

FESTUS

Kind of flying

B0

Weather at impact

Sky

UNKNOWN/NOT REPORTED

Aircraft history

Total time

305 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Flight instructor (CFI)

Total hours

700

Age

35

Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)

TS.NO PENETRATION OF WELD AT FUSELAGE ATTACHMENT.

Investigator remarks

R WING STRUTS FAILED AT FUSELAGE ATTACHMENT POIN

Cause factors

  • 70/A/AC A
    AIRFRAME WING ATTACHMENT FITTINGS,BOLTS Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 70/A/AD A
    AIRFRAME BRACING WIRES,STRUTS Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 88/A/95 A
    MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS MATERIAL FAILURE Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 88/A/AG A
    MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS POOR WELD Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 88/J/88 J
    MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS AIRCRAFT CAME TO REST IN WATER Joint cause

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 4869. Source file NTSB_1968_3_4869.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.