PIPER PA-24-180

Full Narrative

On September 5, 2025, at 1645 central daylight time, N5759P, a Piper Cherokee PA-24-180, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Ashland City, Tennessee. The private pilot sustained minor injuries. The flight was conducted as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
The pilot stated that he departed the St. Charles County Regional Airport/Smartt Field (SET), St. Charles, Missouri, about 1500, and was destined for John C. Thune Airport (JWN), Nashville, Tennessee. He said that as he was preparing the airplane for his arrival at JWN, he twisted the mixture control knob to the full rich position. While doing so, the engine began to run rough and lose power. The pilot contacted air traffic control, and used the Emergency Checklist to troubleshoot the loss of power. He said, “I put the fuel boost pump on, switched tanks, verified ignition was on, verified the mixture full rich, turned carb heat on and verified that the primer was in and locked. I observed about 1000 RPM and 3 GPH on the fuel totalizer. The engine felt like it was idle and unresponsive to throttle inputs.” The pilot was unable to maintain altitude and made a forced landing to a cornfield, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage.
The airplane was recovered from the cornfield and taken to a secure facility for further examination.