Piper PA-24-250 N7583P

Summary

On 7 March 1997 at about 23:35 local time, a Piper PA-24-250 registered N7583P was involved in an accident near Boise, Idaho, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 March 1997 at 23:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Boise, Idaho, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Piper PA-24-250

Registration

N7583P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jerome → Pullman

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA97FA070

3 people died.

the accumulation of airframe ice on the aircraft, and the pilot's delayed remedial action after intentionally flying into forecast adverse weather conditions. The adverse weather (icing) conditions were related factors.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot received both a standard preflight weather briefing and an inflight weather update that indicated he should expect icing, while in clouds or in precipitation, which was forecast to be along his route. While en route, he flew into clouds, and the airplane began picking up ice. For at least ten minutes after the initial onset of airframe ice accumulation, the pilot continued toward his destination. He elected to reverse course, but before he was able to exit the cloud formation, the ice accumulation became 'significant.' His last two radio transmissions indicated that the aircraft was inverted and that he was in trouble and '...going down.'

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.