Piper PA23 N778PA

Summary

On 17 October 2019 at about 04:33 local time, a Piper PA23 registered N778PA was involved in an accident near Unknown, 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

17 October 2019 at 04:33

Classification

Accident

Location

Unknown, United States

Coordinates

25.3825, -90.1258

Aircraft

Piper PA23

Registration

N778PA

Category

Airplane

Year built

1977

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cape Girardeau → Gonzales

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN20LA021

1 person died.

The airplane’s descent into the ocean for reasons that could not be determined.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Flight track data showed the airplane take off, after which the airplane proceeded on a south heading toward its intended destination. The first portion of the flight was conducted at an altitude of about 15,000 ft msl. When the airplane was about 120 nm from the intended destination, it made a slight course correction to the right and descended to about 6,500 ft msl. About 2.75 hours into the flight, the airplane passed over its intended destination but made no course correction or altitude changes. The airplane continued out over the Gulf of Mexico for another 2.25 hours where the flight track ended. A search for the airplane was not successful. The investigation could not determine the reason the airplane overflew the destination. The airplane was presumed to have impacted water in the Gulf of Mexico and the pilot was presumed fatally injured.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.