Piper PA-34-200 N14SS

Summary

On 23 September 2025 at about 05:10 local time, a Piper PA-34-200 registered N14SS was involved in an accident near Rush City, Minnesota, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 September 2025 at 05:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Rush City, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Rush City Regional (ROS)

Coordinates

45.6855, -92.9655

Aircraft

Piper PA-34-200

Registration

N14SS

Category

Airplane

Year built

1977

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ankeny → Rush City

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN25LA400

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to properly monitor the airplane glide path which resulted in the inadvertent descent below the approach minimum descent altitude and the impact with trees.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported the flight was conducted on an instrument flight rules flight plan. The initial portion of the flight was in visual meteorological conditions. However, as the flight neared the intended destination airport, the weather conditions had deteriorated and an instrument approach was required. While on the final approach segment, the airplane drifted left of course. As the pilot was correcting and looking for the runway, he did not notice the airplane had descended below the minimum descent altitude. He initiated a missed approach but was unable to avoid trees in the airplane flight path. Since the runway was not in sight, he decided to divert to a nearby airport with visual conditions. The remainder of the flight was uneventful. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing and stabilator from the tree impact. The pilot stated there were no failures or malfunctions related to the airplane before the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.