Piper PA-24-250 N5369P

Summary

On 19 April 2004 at about 00:30 local time, a Piper PA-24-250 registered N5369P was involved in an accident near North Lima, Ohio, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 April 2004 at 00:30

Classification

Accident

Location

North Lima, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Youngstown Elser Metro (4G4)

Coordinates

40.9617, -80.6653

Aircraft

Piper PA-24-250

Registration

N5369P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

North Lima → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

IAD04FA017

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain a safe altitude clearance from trees. Factors included the night lighting conditions and the pilot's diminished night vision capability.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was practicing landings to runway 28. The sun had set, but there was still residual light to the west. The airplane took off, completed a circuit at a low altitude, and just barely cleared trees and wires on the final approach to a landing. As the pilot taxied the airplane back to the approach end of the runway, a witness saw that the cockpit instrument lights were on. The airplane took off again, and flew another circuit at low altitude, then impacted trees as it was turning onto the final approach leg. One area resident heard engine "backfires," while others thought the engine "just didn't sound right," and had an "odd noise," but didn't hear any backfires. Two airline transport pilots, who were watching the airplane from the airport ramp, did not note any engine problems, and an examination of the airplane after the accident also did not reveal any airframe or engine anomalies. The runway had a precision approach path indicator (PAPI), described by one of the airline transport pilots as "brilliant red." The pilot had an eye examination about 6 months prior to the accident. On a questionnaire, he stated "yes" to whether bright lights bothered him, and "yes" to having trouble with night vision.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.