Piper PA-28-181 N7282C

Summary

On 19 January 2003 at about 04:10 local time, a Piper PA-28-181 registered N7282C was involved in an accident near Eastsound, Washington, United States. 4 people were on board and one died, one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 January 2003 at 04:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Eastsound, Washington, United States

Coordinates

48.7019, -122.9458

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-181

Registration

N7282C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sequim → Eastsound

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

SEA03FA028

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the water and his failure to reset the altimeter to the local barometric pressure. Contributing factors were fog and night conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

At the time of departure for the 30 minute night flight to an island destination, the pilot set his altimeter to field elevation instead of to the broadcast barometric pressure from the nearby Automated Surface Observation System (ASOS). During the climbout, the pilot contact Air Traffic Control, which gave him an altimeter barometric pressure setting and advised him of radar contact passing 2,500 feet. At that point the pilot set his altimeter to an indicated altitude of 2,500 feet instead of at the correct barometric pressure setting. Upon arriving in the area of the destination airport, the pilot found it covered by a low-level fog layer. Without acquiring an updated altimeter setting from the ASOS on the neighboring island, or from the Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) on the nearby mainland, he descended over the water in order to try to find a way to get to the airport underneath the fog. Just after leveling off at what his altimeter indicated was 500 feet, the aircraft impacted the water. It was ultimately determined that at no time during the flight did the pilot set the aircraft's altimeter in reference to an issued barometric pressure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.