Working record · subject to change
Preliminary narrative
On August 28, 2025, at about 1550 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-24-250 airplane, N7412P, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Gregory, Michigan. The pilot was seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. The pilot reported that he and the airplane owner flew the airplane from the Toledo Suburban Airport (DUH), Lambertville, Michigan, to the Charlevoix Municipal Airport (CVX), Charlevoix, Michigan, where he dropped off the airplane owner. He then re-boarded the airplane to return to DUH alone. He reported that the flight from DUH to CVX was uneventful, as was the flight from CVX toward DUH, until about 1:20 into the flight. At this time the engine suddenly stopped producing power. The pilot was in communication with air traffic control (ATC) and reported the power loss. The controller provided the pilot with options for nearby airports and the pilot elected to attempt a landing at the Richmond Field Airport (69G), near Gregory, Michigan. The airplane came to rest in a field just south of 69G and a post-impact fire ensued which consumed the cabin portion of the airplane. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed extensive fire damage. Initially the engine could not be rotated; however, after removal of the fire damaged accessories and accessory housing on the back of the engine, the remainder of the engine was free to rotate. Thumb compression was verified on all cylinder and valve continuity was verified. All of the accessory case gears were intact. The engine still had an unknown amount of oil that drained out of the broken crankcase during the examination. Examination of the accessory case components revealed that the vacuum pump drive shaft, the tachometer drive shaft, and the oil pump drive shaft were seized in their bores. Disassembly of the accessory case components did not reveal any anomalies and the seizures were consistent with the fire damage. The rear mounted magnetos were extensively damaged by the postimpact fire and were unable to be tested.