Piper PA46R-350T N179ST

Summary

On 10 April 2025 at about 20:08 local time, a Piper PA46R-350T registered N179ST was involved in an accident near Folkston, Georgia, United States. 6 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured, one 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

10 April 2025 at 20:08

Classification

Accident

Location

Folkston, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Davis Field (3J6)

Coordinates

30.7959, -82.0281

Aircraft

Piper PA46R-350T

Registration

N179ST

Category

Airplane

Year built

2008

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cornelia → Folkston

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA25LA172

2 people were seriously injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during a go-around.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

At the conclusion of the instrument flight rules flight, the pilot approached the 2,500-ft-long by 50-ft-wide runway at the destination airport. The pilot was unable to recall any of the events that transpired after the landing flare, but the front seat passenger described that the airplane’s nose pitched up as the airplane descended below the tops of the trees that surrounded the airport. The pilot then initiated a go-around, but the airplane did not climb as expected and drifted left towards the trees. The left wing then dropped before the airplane struck the ground, resulting in a postimpact fire. The fuselage and left wing were substantially damaged during the accident sequence. The pilot reported, and a postaccident examination of the wreckage confirmed, that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.