Piper PA-32RT-300T N39696

Summary

On 8 December 1999 at about 23:17 local time, a Piper PA-32RT-300T registered N39696 was involved in an accident near Pelham, Alabama, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 December 1999 at 23:17

Classification

Accident

Location

Pelham, Alabama, United States

Coordinates

33.3007, -86.7899

Aircraft

Piper PA-32RT-300T

Registration

N39696

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bessemer → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

MIA00FA043

1 person died.

The student pilot's decision to continue the visual flight rules flight into deteriorating visibility, and his failure to maintain altitude clearance with the terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot departed into weather observed as 2,000 feet overcast, 6 miles visibility in light rain, with a temperature-dew point spread of 1 degree C., sometime after 1630 and at about 1717 crashed into a 800-to 900-foot ridgeline about 10 miles southeast of his departure point. Witnesses near the crash site stated that localized land clearing fires contributed to worsening visibility, and that they could hear the airplane maneuvering overhead in a generally southeast heading. On site examination of the wreckage of the airframe, engine, and their respective components revealed no mechanical abnormalities.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.