Piper PA-32-300 incident near Jacksonville, Florida, October 4, 1985
On October 4, 1985 at about 1:06 pm local time, a Piper PA-32-300, registered N8614N, suffered minor damage in an incident near Jacksonville, Florida. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this incident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 4, 1985 · about 1:06 pm local time
- Place
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-32-300 · all PA-32-300s on the register
- Registration
- N8614N · registry record · serial 32-7140006
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
AFTER DEPARTURE FLIGHT EXPERIENCED LOSS OF ENGINE POWER AND VISIBLE SMOKE COMING FROM THE WINDSHIELD EXHAUST DUCTS. THE ENGINE SUBSEQUENTLY FAILED BUT THE PILOT WAS ABLE TO REGAIN POWER AND RETURN TO THE AIRPORT FOR A NORMAL LANDING. POST LANDING INSPECTION OF THE AIRCRAFT REVEALED AN EXHAUST PIPE HAD CRACKED AND CAUSED THE LOWER ENGINE COWLING TO CATCH FIRE JUST FORWARD OF THE ENGIN AIR INTAKE. THE EXHAIST HAD CRACKED WHERE A PREVIOUS REPAIR HAD BEEN MADE DUE TO A PREVIOUS CRACK. THE REPAIR WAS IMPROPER DUE TO THE WELD NOT FULLY PENETRATING THE CRACKED METAL.
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: airline transport pilot, flight instructor
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 8,060 hours in all; 2,000 in this make and model; 15 in the last 90 days; 7,970 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,900 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, September 10, 1985; 44 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,400 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming IO-540-K1A5 (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Chapman Air,Inc.
The flight
- Departed from: JAX Jacksonville FL at 1:06 pm
- Destination: ORL Orlando FL
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 200° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 5 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 900 ft; scat at 900 ft
- Temperature: 75°F (24°C), dew point 73°F (23°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 1:00 pm from JAX
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.