Piper PA-22-135 N3606A

Summary

On 8 November 2020 at about 02:18 local time, a Piper PA-22-135 registered N3606A was involved in an accident near Dunn Center, North Dakota, 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

8 November 2020 at 02:18

Classification

Accident

Location

Dunn Center, North Dakota, United States

Coordinates

47.2272, -102.5167

Aircraft

Piper PA-22-135

Registration

N3606A

Category

Airplane

Year built

1953

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Dunn Center → Dickinson

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CEN21LA044

1 person died.

The noninstrument-rated pilot’s decision to depart into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in a loss of control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The noninstrument-rated pilot had landed at a friend’s private airstrip for a visit. The friend, who was also a pilot, reported that the pilot was nervous about the weather conditions and checked the weather every 30 minutes beginning about 2 hours before departing. The friend offered the pilot his vehicle to drive home, but the pilot declined. According to the friend, it was a dark night with low cloud ceilings, light drizzle, and thick fog. The friend stated that he followed the airplane during its takeoff roll to the south using his headlights to illuminate the runway and lost sight of the airplane’s lights in the overcast and fog within seconds after its departure. He heard the airplane’s engine running at high rpm and then heard an impact. The wreckage was located on top of a hill about 1/4 mile southwest of the airstrip. Ground scars, impact signatures, and wreckage fragmentation patterns were consistent with the airplane impacting terrain in a near 90° bank angle with high forward velocity. The airplane’s impact attitude and speed indicate the pilot had lost control of the airplane. The airplane likely entered instrument meteorological conditions shortly after takeoff, and the pilot lost visual reference to the ground, which resulted in a loss of control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.