Piper PA-44-180 N4144C

Summary

On 13 May 2004 at about 14:00 local time, a Piper PA-44-180 registered N4144C was involved in an accident near Wittmann, Arizona, 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

13 May 2004 at 14:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Wittmann, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

33.7908, -112.4831

Aircraft

Piper PA-44-180

Registration

N4144C

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Phoenix → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX04FA207

3 people died.

The flight instructor's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed to avoid a stall/spin while maneuvering the airplane with a dual student.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane collided with terrain in a spin following an in-flight loss of control. The multiengine instructional flight departed to the west practice area. Radar data indicated that the crew climbed to 6,000 feet, but didn't maintain that altitude. The altitude varied (climbing and descending) about 500 feet for the next several minutes. About 20 miles west-northwest of the airport, they began a figure-eight type of track, and then went into a descending 360-degree turn before the last radar contact. The last radar return was just abeam the main wreckage area at a mode C transponder reported altitude of 3,900 feet. A witness saw the airplane spinning as it headed toward the ground in a nose low attitude. The preceding target was 18 seconds earlier at a mode C altitude of 5,200 feet. Investigators established control continuity, and noted no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airframe or either engine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.