Piper PA32 N720RP

Summary

On 11 August 2022 at about 22:05 local time, a Piper PA32 registered N720RP was involved in an accident near Metz, West Virginia, 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

11 August 2022 at 22:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Metz, West Virginia, United States

Coordinates

39.6241, -80.3850

Aircraft

Piper PA32

Registration

N720RP

Category

Airplane

Year built

1980

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Washington → Lebanon

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA22FA368

3 people died.

The non-instrument-rated pilot’s intentional visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions based on latent weather information, which resulted in the airplane entering extreme precipitation, a loss of aircraft control, and in-flight break-up.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The non-instrument-rated pilot was in cruise flight when he advised the air traffic controller that he was looking at his cockpit weather radar display and requested a deviation between what he described as a gap between radar echoes. The airplane subsequently transitioned through echoes consistent with areas of light, moderate, heavy, and then extreme precipitation before track data depicted a steep, descending right turn that continued until contact with the airplane was lost in the vicinity of the accident site. The damage to the airplane and the distribution of the wreckage, which was spread over a distance of 0.8 miles, were consistent with an in-flight break-up. Examination of the wreckage revealed fracture surfaces consistent with overstress failure, and no evidence of preimpact mechanical anomalies that would have prevented normal operation of the airplane. The extent of the pilot’s preflight weather planning activities could not be determined, as there was no record of him obtaining weather information from an access-controlled source. Based on his communications with air traffic control, the pilot was aware of the convective activity along his route of flight and was likely using his cockpit Next Generation Radar (NEXRAD) weather display for tactical weather avoidance decisions, and not accounting for the latencies inherent to the processes used to create and deliver this imagery to an inflight display.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.