Piper PA-32R-300 N4386F

Summary

On 8 July 2012 at about 18:58 local time, a Piper PA-32R-300 registered N4386F was involved in an accident near New Site, Mississippi, 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

8 July 2012 at 18:58

Classification

Accident

Location

New Site, Mississippi, United States

Coordinates

34.5539, -88.4181

Aircraft

Piper PA-32R-300

Registration

N4386F

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Andrews → Oxford

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA12FA433

3 people died.

The pilot's decision to operate into a known area of adverse weather, which resulted in the inadvertent penetration of a severe thunderstorm, a subsequent loss of control, and in-flight breakup of the airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Before departing on the accident flight, the pilot filed three instrument flight rules flight plans but had not requested nor received a weather briefing. A witness near the accident site reported a thunderstorm in the vicinity and observed the airplane enter a cloud followed shortly by a "loud pop." The witness then observed pieces of the airplane coming out of the cloud. The left wing and vertical stabilizer were located about 1,500 feet away from the main wreckage. Examination of the fracture surfaces revealed signatures consistent with tensile overload failure. No preimpact mechanical malfunctions were noted that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. Review of radar and weather data indicated the presence of thunderstorms along the route of flight, as well as in the vicinity of the accident site, with the potential for some of them to be severe. The satellite datalink weather product in the airplane cockpit uploaded weather data every 5 minutes and likely would have shown a thunderstorm cell increasing in severity to the highest intensity level near the time of the in-flight breakup. According to Federal Aviation Administration publication “General Aviation Pilot’s Guide to Preflight Weather Planning, Weather Self-Briefings, and Weather Decision Making,” datalink weather products are not as accurate or current as onboard weather radar, which provide real-time weather radar images in the cockpit. It is likely that the pilot attempted to maneuver around the weather hazard and inadvertently encountered a thunderstorm cell, which resulted in an in-flight breakup of the airplane due to overstress of the structure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.