Piper PA-28-151 N57297

Summary

On 19 August 2001 at about 08:43 local time, a Piper PA-28-151 registered N57297, operated by Michael T. McCarthy, was involved in an accident near Rienzi, Mississippi, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 August 2001 at 08:43

Classification

Accident

Location

Rienzi, Mississippi, United States

Coordinates

34.7617, -88.6342

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-151

Registration

N57297

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Michael T. McCarthy

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tunica → Muscle Shoals

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

ATL01FA094

3 people died.

The pilot experienced spatial disorientation, which resulted in an in-flight loss of control and subsequent collision with trees and terrain. A factor was the dark night condition.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane collided with trees and terrain during a night flight that departed at 0249 central daylight time. The private pilot was recently certificated. Weather reporting facilities indicated the possibility of IFR conditions in the vicinity of the accident site about the time of the accident, and it was a moonless, dark night. GPS data retrieved from a hand-held unit recovered from the wreckage indicate nearly constant heading fluctuations throughout the flight, depicting a scalloped flight path and eventual 360-degree turn to the right at the end of the data set. Examination of the accident site showed the airplane rested in a nose-low attitude adjacent to two trees. Wreckage debris was scattered over am area approximately 70 feet land and 35 feet wide. The wreckage path was orientated on a 240 degree magnetic heading. The engine assembly was buried several inches into the ground. The empennage section was stacked on top of the cockpit and passenger sections of the airframe at the point of ground impact. Examination of the air frame and the engine assembly revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunction or a component failure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.