Piper PA-32-300 N927RP

Summary

On 7 August 2004 at about 22:00 local time, a Piper PA-32-300 registered N927RP was involved in an accident near Burnet, Texas, 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

7 August 2004 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Burnet, Texas, United States

Coordinates

31.0042, -98.4325

Aircraft

Piper PA-32-300

Registration

N927RP

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Horseshoe Bay → Lubbock

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW04FA208

2 people died.

The pilot's continued flight into known adverse weather, VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions, and his failure to maintain control of the airplane due to spatial disorientation. A contributing factor was the cloudy weather.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The non-instrument rated pilot lost control of the airplane due to spatial disorientation after entering into instrument meteorological conditions while en route to his destination. He had obtained three separate weather briefings from a flight service station that reported a stationary front with high clouds over the intended route of flight. An air traffic control center first plotted the airplane ascending through 5,000 feet. After reaching an altitude of 10,000 feet, the airplane began to descend in a tight right turn losing altitude rapidly, with the last radar contact at 7,500 feet. A witness reported seeing an airplane coming out of the clouds and diving at a very high rate of speed. Pieces of the airplane were found scattered up to a half-mile distance from the main wreckage site.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.