Piper PA 44 N21161

Summary

On 9 June 2018 at about 19:00 local time, a Piper PA 44 registered N21161, operated by ATP USA, Inc., was involved in an accident near Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 June 2018 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Daytona Beach, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Daytona Beach Intl (DAB)

Coordinates

29.2392, -81.0789

Aircraft

Piper PA 44

Registration

N21161

Category

Airplane

Year built

1978

Engines

2

Operator

ATP USA, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Palm Coast → Daytona Beach

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA18LA164

2 people had minor injuries.

The pilots’ improper in-flight weather evaluation and decision to continue the approach, which resulted in an encounter with a thunderstorm, a loss of airplane control, and collision with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor’s inadequate preflight weather evaluation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor stated that he and the private pilot-receiving instruction, who had the controls, informally checked the weather before departing for the cross-country instructional flight but that they did not obtain an official weather briefing. The flight was operating on an instrument approach in instrument meteorological conditions, which included thunderstorms, frequent lightning, and low-level wind shear advisories in effect at the destination airport. A tower controller at the destination airport issued the flight a local instrument clearance and provided wind and supplemental weather information, which included wind from 310° at 14 knots, gusting to 20 knots; a low-level windshear advisory, which included wind from 320° at 15 knots and a 15-knot gain 1 mile from the end of the runway. The controller also advised the pilot that the visibility was probably 1 mile in “that precipitation" and that there was “frequent lightning cloud to ground.” During the approach, the airplane began encountering rain, which increased in intensity as the airplane neared the final approach fix (FAF). Shortly after passing the FAF, when the airplane was about 800 ft mean sea level, the controller issued a low-altitude alert. The flight instructor took the controls, added full power, and attempted to climb the airplane; however, it continued descending while about 90 knots throughout the descent and upon impact. The airplane impacted houses and then came to rest inverted in a retention pond. The flight instructor noted that there were thunderstorms east of the destination airport when the flight began; however, he did not anticipate their potential impact on the flight. While in-flight, both pilots failed to identify the frequent lightning and low-level windshear advisory as a severe weather hazard and continued the approach into an area of thunderstorm activity instead of diverting to an alternate airport.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.