Piper PA-34-220T N4312G

Summary

On 23 April 2001 at about 04:46 local time, a Piper PA-34-220T registered N4312G was involved in an accident near Brackettville, Texas, United States. 4 people were on board and 2 died, 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 April 2001 at 04:46

Classification

Accident

Location

Brackettville, Texas, United States

Coordinates

29.5333, -100.3000

Aircraft

Piper PA-34-220T

Registration

N4312G

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Antonio → Del Rio

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

FTW01FA101

2 people died.

the pilot's intentional low flight and his poor judgment to intentionally fly into known adverse weather, which resulted in an in-flight collision with terrain. Contributing factors were the dark night conditions and the thunderstorm.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot obtained three weather briefings prior to takeoff for a visual flight rules night cross-country flight. According to the weather briefings, thunderstorms, heavy rain and hail were forecast for the destination area. The pilot radioed a flight service station over a flight watch frequency while en route to obtain updated weather for the destination. The pilot was informed that rain had passed through the destination airport area within the previous hour and that there were thunderstorms northwest of the airport. The airplane disappeared from radar 13 minutes following this in-flight weather update. The radar data depicted the airplane descending from 2,800 feet to 2,300 feet prior to disappearing from radar coverage. The last two radar returns depicted the airplane making a turn towards the northwest. One of the surviving passengers stated that while en route, "the weather started getting bad." The airplane struck trees in hilly terrain approximately 1,675 feet msl. No aircraft or engine anomalies were noted that would have prevented normal operations. The pilot's toxicology tests indicated that he was taking sertraline, an antidepressant medication. The FAA did not issue the pilot a medical certificate at the time of his last medical application.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.