Piper PA-32RT-300T N36824

Summary

On 30 November 2011 at about 02:00 local time, a Piper PA-32RT-300T registered N36824, operated by Tower Paul A, was involved in an accident near Hailey, Idaho, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 November 2011 at 02:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Hailey, Idaho, United States

Coordinates

43.3381, -114.2192

Aircraft

Piper PA-32RT-300T

Registration

N36824

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Tower Paul A

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hailey → Nampa

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

WPR12LA048

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain course heading and terrain clearance because he was distracted by efforts to engage the autopilot shortly after takeoff on a dark night in mountainous terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During takeoff from an airport in a narrow valley on a dark night, the pilot lost sight of the lights around the runway environment while he attempted to engage the autopilot to assist in his navigation of the pre-programmed route. When he determined that his first attempt to engage the autopilot had not been successful, the pilot repeated the steps of the autopilot engagement process. As the pilot was completing his second attempt to engage the autopilot, the tower air traffic controller asked him if he was making a turn to the downwind leg. About the same time, the terrain warning signal on one of the airplane’s global positioning system units began to sound. The pilot then realized that while he was trying to engage the autopilot, the airplane’s heading had drifted and the airplane was headed toward rapidly rising terrain. Because it appeared to the pilot that he would not be able to avoid that terrain, he slowed the airplane and performed an emergency landing on “rough and comparatively level” snow-covered ground. Several of the autopilot components and associated flight instruments were examined and tested; however, there was no evidence of preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation or engagement. It is likely that the pilot's distraction with the autopilot engagement resulted in his failure to maintain his course alignment and clearance from terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.