Piper PA-34-200T N132CP

Summary

On 27 April 2002 at about 16:55 local time, a Piper PA-34-200T registered N132CP was involved in an accident near Alpine, Utah, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 April 2002 at 16:55

Classification

Accident

Location

Alpine, Utah, United States

Coordinates

40.4497, -111.8553

Aircraft

Piper PA-34-200T

Registration

N132CP

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Halls Crossing → Salt Lake City

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW02FA130

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance with terrain and continued flight into known adverse weather conditions. Contributing factors were the fog and rain weather conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While enroute, the instrument-rated pilot requested to air traffic control a GPS instrument approach to the intended destination airport; however, ATC denied the request due to traffic and the low cloud bases in the area. The pilot then requested an IFR clearance to an alternate airport. ATC cleared the pilot for an ILS approach to an alternate airport. The pilot then reported to air traffic control that when able, he would cancel the IFR clearance and proceed to the intended destination airport under VFR. Witnesses observed the airplane flying northbound towards the intended destination airport and operating "low, fast and it's landing gear was up." They observed the weather to be "very rainy, and foggy and the visibility was poor." The airplane continued to the north and disappeared instantly into the fog and clouds. The 3,864-hour pilot was found to be familiar with the route of flight having completed approximately 370 flights between the departure and destination airports. No distress calls were received from the pilot prior to the accident. The airplane impacted trees and the terrain at an elevation of approximately 5,675 feet msl. During examination of the wreckage, no aircraft or engine anomalies were noted that would have prevented normal operations.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.