Piper PA-32R-300 accident near Roswell, Georgia, October 28, 1998
On October 28, 1998 at about 11:24 pm local time, a Piper PA-32R-300, registered N8554C, was destroyed in an accident near Roswell, Georgia (Dekalb-Peachtree airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 1 person was seriously injured. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
A loss of engine power due to the failure of the number five connecting rod assembly as a result of fatigue cracks that were initiated in areas of galling. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 28, 1998 · about 11:24 pm local time
- Place
- Roswell, Georgia · Dekalb-Peachtree · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was seriously injured.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-32R-300 · all PA-32R-300s on the register
- Registration
- N8554C · no longer on the register · serial 32R-7680122
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
While transiting the Atlanta area, the commercial rated pilot reported a sudden loss of engine oil pressure and a subsequent severe vibration to Atlanta Approach Control. Approach Control vectored the flight toward the Dekalb-Peachtree airport for an emergency landing. Due to the loss of power, the pilot was unable to maintain altitude and was force landed on a highway. The pilot left the airplane in the cruise configuration and landed with wheels and flaps retracted. Upon landing, the aircraft slid on the road contacting a Jeep Cherokee, then impacting a Mazda 626. After the impact with the Mazda, the aircraft and the automobile caught fire destroying both. The pilot received serious injuries while the driver of the automobile was fatally injured. During a post crash disassembly of the engine, the number five connecting rod was found fractured through the rod shoulder. A metallurgical examination of the connecting rod was performed, during which the #5 rod was found to have fatigue cracks originating at or near areas of galling. Connecting rods are routinely re-used following inspections for evidence of galling. The engine had operated to within about 60 hours of its recommended time between overhauls, with the broken rod installed.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,514 hours in all; 134 in this make and model; 150 in the last 90 days; 80 in the last 30 days; 1,415 as pilot in command; 550 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 9,469 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, October 14, 1998; 56 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,600 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming IO-540-KIA5D (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: EKY Bessemer AL at 10:30 pm
- Destination: GVL Gainesville GA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 280° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 8 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 72°F (22°C), dew point 45°F (7°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 10:53 pm from PDK, 12 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.