PIPER PA-24-260 — Norfolk, NE

What happened

The non-instrument rated pilot and passenger departed on a night cross-country flight. When the airplane did not show up at its destination, a search was initiated. The following evening, the airplane wreckage was located in an open field. A local resident near the accident site reported that she saw an airplane flying really low, at night. She added, that at the time she saw the airplane, the weather was misty and cold. Around the time the witness saw the airplane, the automated weather reporting station, located about 12.5 miles from the accident site, reported a cloud ceiling at 700 feet mean sea level. The airplane collided with the top of a tree, located along a tree line that crossed the airplane's flight path. A postaccident examination did not disclose any evidence of a pre-impact mechanical malfunction. The accident information is consistent with a non-instrument rated pilot trying to fly beneath the clouds at low altitude, at night, in marginal weather conditions. Due to the night and instrument meteorological conditions the pilot most likely would not have been able to see and avoid the tree; the impact and subsequent ground collision were consistent with a controlled flight into terrain event.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.