Piper PA-28-235 N9404W

Summary

On 12 November 1997 at about 03:00 local time, a Piper PA-28-235 registered N9404W was involved in an accident near Ulysses, Kansas, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 November 1997 at 03:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Ulysses, Kansas, United States

Coordinates

37.5690, -101.3494

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-235

Registration

N9404W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Montezuma → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CHI98LA034

1 person had minor injuries.

the pilot's continued flight into adverse weather conditions, his failure to activate the pitot heat system, and his failure to maintain clearance from the terrain. Factors associated with this accident were: the pilot did not obtain a preflight weather briefing, the adverse weather (icing) condition, and accumulation of ice on the windshield.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot encountered freezing rain during a night cross-country flight at 5,000 feet above mean sea level (msl). He said his windshield had iced up during the flight. According to the pilot, he began a descent to prepare for a landing as he neared his destination. During the descent, the pilot noted his altimeter did not move below 4,000 feet msl. The pilot continued the descent until colliding with the ground. He said the altimeter indication went to 3,000 feet msl when the airplane collided with the ground. The accident site's terrain elevation was about 3,000 feet msl. The pilot said he did not turn on the pitot heat during the flight. The altimeter static port was on the aft side of the pitot-tube. During an altimeter bench-check, the altimeter functioned normally except it indicated between 50 and 120 feet low at various altitudes. There was no indication of sticking or rough operation at any altitude tested. The pilot did not obtain a weather briefing before departing on the accident flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.