Piper PA28 N5167L

Summary

On 3 August 2019 at about 15:43 local time, a Piper PA28 registered N5167L was involved in an accident near Ontonagon, Michigan, 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

3 August 2019 at 15:43

Classification

Accident

Location

Ontonagon, Michigan, United States

Coordinates

46.6992, -89.4728

Aircraft

Piper PA28

Registration

N5167L

Category

Airplane

Year built

1967

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ironwood → Ontonagon

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN19FA247

1 person died.

The non-instrument-rated pilot’s decision to continue visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions with thunderstorm activity, which resulted in spatial disorientation and a loss of airplane control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot, who was not instrument rated, was conducting a personal flight in visual meteorological conditions when he flew into an area of instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) with thunderstorm activity. After flying several minutes in IMC, the airplane entered a left turn that became increasingly tighter along with a with a rapid climb that was followed by a rapid descent until the airplane impacted the ground. The airplane was destroyed. Postaccident examination revealed no evidence of a preexisting mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. The spiral flightpath with significant changes in altitude was consistent with the pilot experiencing the effects of spatial disorientation. Weather imagery indicated an outflow boundary ahead of the main cumulonimbus cloud line. The pilot likely encountered gusty and turbulent wind conditions when the airplane flew into the outflow boundary. The adverse weather conditions likely contributed to the pilot’s spatial disorientation. The pilot did not receive a weather briefing before the flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.