Piper PA 46-350P N46PT

Summary

On 3 December 2006 at about 16:14 local time, a Piper PA 46-350P registered N46PT was involved in an accident near Atlanta, Georgia, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 December 2006 at 16:14

Classification

Accident

Location

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Piper PA 46-350P

Registration

N46PT

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ft. Meyers → Indianapolis

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI07LA035

Nobody was injured.

The exceedance of airplane design stress limits when the pilot did not maintain aircraft control after his attention was diverted to the right side attitude indicator during cruise flight. An additional cause was the aural detection for the autopilot disconnect was difficult to hear with the noise canceling headset. A contributing factor was the disengaged autopilot/flight director.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he heard a loud whistling noise while in level cruise at flight level (FL) 220 and noticed that the right side attitude indicator was "tilted." While he was leaning over adjusting the instrument, he realized that the airplane was in a dive. He leveled the wings and pulled out of the dive at FL 190. The autopilot (A/P) was re-engaged and the flight was completed to its intended destination without further incident. A visual examination after the descent revealed the left front baggage door open and buckled, and the left and right wings showed skin damage and wrinkling approximately 54 inches from the wing roots. When tested, the autopilot and flight director performed within test specifications with only "minor" deviations. Both vacuum pumps tested within test specifications. The right side attitude indicator continued to show a three degree turn even after a kink in the vacuum supply to the right side attitude indicator was removed. The "normal" static system leaked in excess of allowable limits; however, the valve was found to be in the "alternate" position before it was tested. An active noise-canceling set of headphones was found connected to the pilot's side of the cockpit. The A/P disconnect tone was found to be operating normally while the engine was at idle power. During the test, it was noted that the tone was difficult to hear while wearing the headset.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.