Loss of Control in Flight · NTSB CEN11FA500
PIPER PA 46-350P — Rantoul, IL
| Date | July 24, 2011 |
| Location | Rantoul, IL |
| Aircraft | PIPER PA 46-350P |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Dawn · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Uncontrolled descent Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) |
| Pilot age | 56 |
| Pilot total time | 1,850 hrs · Experienced |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 3 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot - F
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Convective weather-Thunderstorm-Awareness of condition - F
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Convective weather-Thunderstorm-Decision related to condition - F
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Convective weather-Thunderstorm-Contributed to outcome
What happened
A witness reported that the pilot was in a "hurry because a storm front was coming." Another witness reported that the airplane took off and started to turn to the south. He stated that a weather front was arriving at the airport and that strong wind from the northwest appeared to "push the tail of the plane up and the nose down." The airplane descended, impacted power lines and terrain, and subsequently caught fire. The witness indicated that the airplane's engine was producing power until impact.
On the day before departure, the pilot obtained a computerized weather briefing and filed a flight plan; none of the weather briefing products were current at the time of the accident. On the morning of the accident, the area forecast outlook indicated expected thunderstorms during the morning hours in the vicinity of the accident site. Recorded weather information at the departure airport, about the takeoff time, indicated lightning in the distant north and northwest. Recovered pictures taken during passenger boarding and while taxiing to the runway depicted a defined shelf, rotor, or arc cloud, which marked the boundary of the low-level outflow of a storm that was approaching the airport. Dark conditions under the clouds are consistent with approaching precipitation. An on-scene examination revealed no preimpact anomalies with the engine or airframe.