Aviation Crash Map

Piper PA-28 N5519W

15 July 2009 · Cincinnati, Ohio, United States · Serious injuries

Summary

On 15 July 2009 at about 01:51 local time, a Piper PA-28 registered N5519W was involved in an accident near Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

The record

Date
at 01:51
Classification
Accident
Location
Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Nearest airport
Lunken Field (LUK)
Coordinates
39.1033, -84.4186
Aircraft
Piper PA-28
Registration
N5519W
Category
Airplane
Engines
1
Operator
Not recorded
Operating rule
Part 91: General Aviation
Purpose of flight
Personal
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Lebanon → Lunken
Aircraft damage
Destroyed
Weather
VMC
Light
Night
NTSB number
CEN09LA441

People

1 person was seriously injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
1 0 1 0 0

Probable cause

The pilot's loss of situational awareness during the approach to an unfamiliar airport at night and his failure to maintain clearance from the trees. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of familiarity with the airplane's navigational equipment.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he intended to “simply enjoy several hours” of night flying and to return to the departure airport. During the flight he noticed that the aircraft compass and directional gyro indications did not match. He was not familiar with the new GPS in the airplane and he was not able to get navigational information from it. The pilot became disoriented and did not recognize any familiar landmarks. It had become very dark. He saw a rotating airport beacon so he decided to land at that airport. As he was turning from downwind to base, the airplane hit the trees paralleling the runway. Witnesses reported that they heard the airplane approaching and saw the airplane in level flight for about 3–5 seconds at tree-top level, and then the airplane impacted the trees. Postaccident inspection of the airplane revealed no preimpact anomalies.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

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All 9,402 records for this type

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