Piper PA-28-180 N43630

Summary

On 18 January 2007 at about 05:16 local time, a Piper PA-28-180 registered N43630, operated by Blue Ridge Aeronautics, was involved in an accident near Centennial, Wyoming, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 January 2007 at 05:16

Classification

Accident

Location

Centennial, Wyoming, United States

Nearest airport

Rock Springs-Sweetwater County (RKS)

Coordinates

41.3661, -106.2581

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-180

Registration

N43630

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Blue Ridge Aeronautics

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rock Springs → Grand Island

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

DEN07FA054

3 people died.

the pilot's inadvertent flight into adverse weather conditions resulting in a loss of aircraft control. Contributing factors include the pilot's improper preflight planning and decision making, the pilot's spatial disorientation, the pilot's lack of night currency, the dark night, and the snow, low clouds, and low visibility.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was the subject of an alert notification. The accident site was located in forested, mountainous terrain at an elevation 10,710 feet msl. Sunset was recorded at 1700 and the end of civil twilight was recorded at 1730. The moon rose at 0639 and set at 1516 on the day of the accident. Doppler weather radar depicted an area of light snow showers along the route of flight, near the wreckage location. An AIRMET for mountain obscuration was issued along the route of flight. According to the pilot's flight records, he had logged 3 hours of night flight experience, over a year prior to the accident. An examination of the airframe, airplane's systems, and power plant revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal and correct operation prior to impact.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.