PIPER PA-28-180

Full Narrative

On January 10, 2026, about 1925 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-28-180, N6516J was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Port St. Lucie, Florida. The pilot and passenger sustained serious injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
According to the pilot, prior to takeoff from Okeechobee County Airport (OBE), Okeechobee, Florida, he “topped off” the fuel tanks with about 40 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel. As the pilot was preparing to start the airplane’s engine, he turned on the master switch, observed that the cockpit and cabin lights were dim, and could not start the engine.
The pilot requested a “jump start,” which started the engine and he subsequently taxied to the runway and took off, but during the initial climb, the engine was not producing adequate power to maintain a good climb rate. The airplane climbed past 2,000 ft mean sea level, and the pilot began to troubleshoot the “problem,” but shortly after, the airplane experienced a total loss of engine power. The pilot attempted to restart the engine several times using the loss of engine power checklists, but was unsuccessful.
The pilot conducted a descending 180° right turn toward OBE but was too far (10 nautical miles) to reach the airport, and he attempted a forced landing to a field. The airplane impacted trees during the approach, both wings separated and the fuselage impacted terrain in a nose down inverted attitude about 100 ft from the initial tree impact.
After the accident, the pilot stated that he recently purchased the airplane which had been ferried from California to Florida. The airplane’s magnetos had been recently overhauled, and a new wiring harness was installed prior to the purchase. The airplane’s most recent annual inspection was performed on December 9, 2025, which was about 5 years after the previous annual inspection. The ferry pilot who transported the airplane to the pilot informed him that the alternator was experiencing intermittent drops during the four-day ferry ?ight, and that each flight leg was about 8 hours per day. No other issues were noted by the ferry pilot.
The airplane was recovered and retained for further examination.