Piper PA-32R-300 N301WA

Summary

On 12 March 1989 at about 02:45 local time, a Piper PA-32R-300 registered N301WA was involved in an accident near Southbridge, Massachusetts, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 March 1989 at 02:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Southbridge, Massachusetts, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Piper PA-32R-300

Registration

N301WA

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Newport → Southbridge

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

NYC89FA099

2 people died.

POOR JUDGEMENT OF THE PILOT BY FLYING WHILE PHYSICALLY IMPAIRED BY ALCOHOL, AND HIS CONTINUED VFR FLIGHT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC). RELATED FACTORS WERE: THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PLANNING/PREPARATION, DARK NIGHT, ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS, AND TREES AT THE ACCIDENT SITE.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE PLT & PAX TOOK OFF AT ABOUT 2100 EST ON A VFR FLT FROM NEWPORT, RI, TO SOUTHBRIDGE, MA. ABOUT 33 MIN LATER, THE PLT CONTACTED BRADLEY APCH CTL & REQUESTED ASSISTANCE TO THE SOUTHBRIDGE MUNI ARPT. THE CTLR WAS UNABLE TO OBTAIN RADAR CONTACT WITH THE ACFT & ADZD THE PLT THE VIS WAS 3/4 MI IN SNOWSHOWERS, BUT THAT ARPTS TO THE SOUTH WERE RPRTG VFR. THE PLT ELECTED TO CONT TO SOUTHBRIDGE. AT ABOUT 2145 EST, RADIO CONTACT WAS LOST. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH TREES IN SOUTHBRIDGE & CRASHED. WITNESSES RPRTD THE ACFT CIRCLED THE AREA 3 TIMES BEFORE IT CRASHED. ALSO, THEY RPRTD THE ENG WAS OPERATING & THAT SNOW WAS FALLING. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ACFT OR ENG WAS EVIDENT. TOXICOLOGY CHECKS SHOWED THE PLT HAD A BLOOD/ALCOHOL LVL OF 0.190% & URINE/ALCOHOL LVL OF 0.234%. ALSO, PSEUDOEPHEDRINE (A NON-PRESCRIPTION DECONGESTANT) WAS DETECTED IN HIS BLOOD AT A LVL OF 2.4 MG/L.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.