Piper PA28 N6143J

Summary

On 20 December 2018 at about 00:36 local time, a Piper PA28 registered N6143J was involved in an accident near Blairsville, Georgia, United States. 4 people were on board and 3 died, one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 December 2018 at 00:36

Classification

Accident

Location

Blairsville, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Blairsville (DZJ)

Coordinates

34.8525, -84.0156

Aircraft

Piper PA28

Registration

N6143J

Category

Airplane

Year built

1976

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Blairsville → Blairsville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA19FA070

3 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from trees during a visual approach for landing in night visual meteorological conditions. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of recent experience flying at night.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was approaching the airport for landing following a local personal flight in night visual meteorological conditions when the airplane impacted 60 to 70-ft-tall trees about 1/2 mile from the end of the runway. Although the runway lights were illuminated at the time of the accident, the runway was not equipped with a precision approach path indicator (PAPI) or visual approach slope indicator (VASI) light system. Examination of the airplane and the engine did not reveal any preaccident mechanical discrepancies that would have precluded normal operation. A review of the pilot's logbook revealed that the pilot had not flown at night in just over four months preceding the accident. It is likely that, in the absence of a PAPI or VASI system by which to judge the airplane's approach path, the sparsely-lit terrain off the approach end of the runway may have created an illusion that resulted in the pilot's descent into terrain short of the runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.