Piper PA-46-310P N248SP

Summary

On 26 July 2014 at about 12:50 local time, a Piper PA-46-310P registered N248SP was involved in an accident near Clayton, Georgia, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 July 2014 at 12:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Clayton, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Heaven's Landing (GE99)

Coordinates

34.9239, -83.4533

Aircraft

Piper PA-46-310P

Registration

N248SP

Category

Airplane

Year built

1986

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Clayton → Aurora

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA14FA359

1 person died.

The pilot’s decision to begin a flight with fog and low clouds present at the airport, which resulted in an encounter with instrument meteorological conditions immediately after takeoff and a controlled flight into terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was departing the private, fly-in community airport on a personal flight. He was familiar with the airport/fly-in community and was instrumental in its development. Fog was present at the time, and, according to witnesses, it was "rolling up the valley," which was a frequent event at the airport. The witnesses observed the airplane lift off the runway, drift to the left, and disappear into the fog with the landing gear extended. They heard the engine running normally, with no change in sound, until the crash. They heard two distinct "booms" about 4 to 6 seconds apart. They ran down to the departure end of the runway to look for a crash site and could not see the wreckage or any smoke or fire due to the fog. The wreckage was located on elevated terrain in a heavily wooded area, about 1,500 feet north of the departure end of the runway. The elevation at the crash site was about 250 feet higher than the elevation at the departure end of runway. A swath through the treetops leading to the main wreckage was indicative of a near-level flight path at impact. An examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any evidence of a preexisting mechanical malfunction or failure. A review of the weather by a NTSB meteorologist revealed that the departure airport was at the edge of an area of low-topped clouds. Airport remarks included "Mountainous terrain all quadrants."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.