Piper PA-32R-301 N109PA

Summary

On 13 September 2007 at about 21:20 local time, a Piper PA-32R-301 registered N109PA was involved in an accident near Whitfield, 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

13 September 2007 at 21:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Whitfield, Alabama, United States

Coordinates

32.3969, -88.0769

Aircraft

Piper PA-32R-301

Registration

N109PA

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gulf Shores → Jonesboro

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC07FA226

1 person died.

The pilot’s intentional flight into known thunderstorms.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane’s owner and his wife deplaned at their vacation destination, before the pilot departed on the return trip to the airplane’s home base. After a lengthy discussion about the approaching storm from the west, the pilot concurred with the owner on a route of flight that would take the airplane east, then north to avoid the storm, before eventually heading west towards its ultimate destination. Instead, the radar data depicted a northerly track for the airplane after departure, before it turned on a northwesterly track directly towards its destination. An air traffic controller advised the pilot of "significant" weather along his route of flight, the pilot acknowledged the radio call, and confirmed that he was "weather radar equipped." A Significant Meteorology Information (SIGMET) was issued for severe embedded thunderstorms in the area that included the route of flight at the time of the accident. Examination of weather radar data revealed "intense" and "extreme" weather in the area of the accident site at the time of the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.