Piper PA-28-180 N4577T

Summary

On 5 August 2003 at about 21:45 local time, a Piper PA-28-180 registered N4577T was involved in an accident near Clarkfield, Minnesota, 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

5 August 2003 at 21:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Clarkfield, Minnesota, United States

Coordinates

44.8600, -95.7928

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-180

Registration

N4577T

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Norfolk → Montevideo

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI03FA246

1 person died.

The pilot not maintaining altitude/clearance from terrain and his continued VFR flight into IMC during cruise flight. A factor was the low ceilings.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was destroyed on impact with terrain. Visual to instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed in the area. A visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan was on file. The pilot was fatally injured. The wreckage was found during a search for the airplane because the pilot did not arrive as he had flight planned. A pilot flying in the area stated, "I was IMC until I descended to 1000 ft above the ground." An agricultural spray pilot in the area delayed his takeoff because he thought the weather was too low. A witness stated, "The cloud cover was low 100' to 150'. ... The plane was in [and] out of the clouds, going in a northern direction." An on-scene investigation was performed. No anomalies were found.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.