Piper 601P N23NS

Summary

On 9 November 1990 at about 00:05 local time, a Piper 601P registered N23NS, operated by G.t. Contractors Inc., was involved in an accident near Nacogdoches, Texas, United States. 5 people were on board and 5 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 November 1990 at 00:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Nacogdoches, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

A.l.mangham, Jr Rgnl (OCH)

Coordinates

31.6090, -94.6507

Aircraft

Piper 601P

Registration

N23NS

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

G.t. Contractors Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cordelle → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

FTW91FA012

5 people died.

FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO FOLLOW IFR PROCEDURES AND MAINTAIN THE PROPER ALTITUDE. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS, DARK NIGHT, LOW FUEL STATE OF THE AIRCRAFT, AND TREES AT THE ACCIDENT SITE.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

AT ABT 1744 CST, BFR REACHING HIS DESTN, THE PLT RPRTD THAT DURING THE FLT, HE HAD ENCTRD HEAD WINDS & HAD ONLY 50 MIN OF FUEL REMAINING. HE WAS PROVIDED PREFERENTIAL HNDLG, BUT ANOTHER FLT WAS ALSO LOW ON FUEL. THE PLT WAS CLRD FOR AN NDBRWY 15 APCH. AT 1756:49, HE ACKNOWLEDGED CLNC FOR THE APCH. AT APRX 1800, UNICOM ADZD THE CURRENT WX WAS: 700' BKN, SKY OBSCD WITH HVY RAIN, WND VARIABLE FM 090 TO 240 DEG AT 24 GSTG 29 KTS. THE PLT DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE WX, EXCEPT TO SAYIN A CALM VOICE, 'I HOPE YOU HAVE YOUR LGTS ON.' THE FBO HEARD SVRL CLICKS ON THE UNICOM (AS IF TO ACTVT THE RWY LGTS),THEN THERE WAS NO FURTHER RDO CTC WITH THE ACFT. THE ACFT HIT TREES & CRASHED ABT 6 MI WNW OF THE ARPT. WITNESSES RPRTD IT WAS AT LOW ALT & HAD REVERSED COURSE BFR CRASHING ON A SOUTHERLY HDG. THE MAIN WRECKAGE CAME TO REST ABT 380' FM THE INITIAL IMPACT POINT WITH TREES. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE/MALFUNCTION WAS FND. ABT 42 MI SSE AT LUFKIN, THE 1751 CST WXWAS IN PART: 200' OVC, VIS 3/4 MI WITH TSTMS, HVY RW & FOG, WND FM 020 DEG AT 12 KTS. APCH MINS: 600' CIG & 1 MI VIS.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.