Piper Aerostar 601P accident near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, August 2, 2007
On August 2, 2007, a Piper Aerostar 601P, registered N60801, was substantially damaged in an accident near Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Fort Lauderdale Executive airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The total loss of power in one engine during approach, due to a fatigue fracture of the crankshaft.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 2, 2007
- Place
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida · Fort Lauderdale Executive · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper Aerostar 601P · all Aerostar 601Ps on the register
- Registration
- N60801 · no longer on the register · serial 61P07448063366
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
As the airplane turned onto final approach in the traffic pattern, at an altitude of 1,000 feet, the right engine began a violent vibration and started to lose power. The airplane was unable to maintain altitude, and the pilot attempted a forced landing to a road. As the airplane reached an altitude of approximately 300 feet, it began to lose directional control and impacted a traffic light. After touchdown, the airplane began to skid and impacted several objects on the ground before coming to rest. Metallurgical examination of the right engine revealed that it lost power due to a fatigue-fractured crankshaft. The pilot had positioned the right propeller control to feather, but the right propeller did not feather due to the fractured crankshaft. The engine was most recently overhauled 11 years prior to the accident, and the engine had accumulated 471 hours since then.
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: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 1,950 hours in all
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,514 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, January 1, 2007
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: Lycoming IO-540 (piston); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: Lycoming IO-540 (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: FXE Fort Lauderdale FL at 11:55 pm
- Destination: FXE
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 26, 6,001 ft by 100 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 240° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 15,000 ft; scat at 2,500 ft
- Temperature: 81°F (27°C), dew point 73°F (23°C)
- Altimeter: 29.89 inHg
- Observation at 11:53 pm from FXE
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 2 |
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.
Other NTSB records under N60801 the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number NYC07LA183.