Piper PA 46-350P N92315

Summary

On 2 December 2012 at about 23:16 local time, a Piper PA 46-350P registered N92315, operated by Donald P. Horan, was involved in an accident near Greensburg, Indiana, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 December 2012 at 23:16

Classification

Accident

Location

Greensburg, Indiana, United States

Nearest airport

Greensberg Municipal Airport (I34)

Coordinates

39.3405, -85.4805

Aircraft

Piper PA 46-350P

Registration

N92315

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Donald P. Horan

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Destin → Greensburg

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CEN13FA085

4 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain airplane control while maneuvering in night instrument meteorological conditions due to spatial disorientation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The instrument-rated private pilot was executing a nonprecision instrument approach procedure at night in deteriorating weather conditions. According to GPS track data, the pilot executed the approach as published but descended below the missed approach point's minimum altitude before executing a climbing right turn. This turn was not consistent with the published missed approach procedure. The airplane then began a series of left and right ascending and descending turns to various altitudes. The last few seconds of recorded data indicated that the airplane entered a descending left turn. Two witnesses heard the airplane fly overhead at a low altitude and described the weather as foggy. Reported weather at a nearby airport about 26 minutes before the accident was visibility less than 2 miles in mist and an overcast ceiling of 300 feet. A friend of the pilot flew the same route in a similarly equipped airplane and arrived about 30 minutes before the accident airplane. He said he performed the same approach to the missed approach point but never broke out of the clouds, so he executed a missed approach and diverted to an alternate airport. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Federal Aviation Administration Flight Training Handbook Advisory Circular 61-21A cautions that pilots are particularly vulnerable to spatial disorientation during periods of low visibility due to conflicts between what they see and what their supporting senses, such as the inner ear and muscle sense, communicate. The accident airplane's maneuvering flightpath, as recorded by the GPS track data, in night instrument meteorological conditions is consistent with the pilot's loss of airplane control due to spatial disorientation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.