Piper PA-46-350P accident near Rochester, MN
On December 22, 1994, a Piper PA-46-350P (airplane) was involved in an accident near Rochester, MN. 3 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- December 22, 1994
- Place
- Rochester, MN
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-46-350P · Airplane
- Injuries
- 3 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 44.010°N, 92.471°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001206X02695
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On December 22, 1994, at 1152 central standard time, a Piper PA46-350P airplane, N133MA, was destroyed when it impacted the terrain shortly after departure from the Rochester Municipal Airport, Rochester, Minnesota. The private pilot and two passengers sustained fatal injuries. The personal flight originated about 1148 and was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. An IFR flight plan was filed to Guntersville, Alabama, and instrument meteorological conditions prevailed. The local controller in the Rochester Airport Air Traffic Control Tower cleared N133MA to take-off on runway 31. He issued a right turn to a heading of 090 when the airplane was approximately 1/4 mile past the departure end of the runway. He observed the airplane in the right turn. He last observed the airplane on the DBRITE scopeabout two miles north of the airport on "what appeared to be an east-south-east track." The radar controller reported that he observed a radar target depart runway 31 and turn east. The automated radar terminal systems (ARTS) tag was acquired approximately one to two miles north of the airport. He was unable to establish radio contact and the ARTS tag dropped into "coast" status. The tower manager reported in a telephone interview that he believed the ARTS tag would typically be acquired as the airplane climbed through an altitude of approximately 700 feet AGL. The ARTS II radar installed at the Rochester Airport does not include a recording capability. A quality assurance representative at the Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) reported that the airplan
Probable cause
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE, WHILE CLIMBING IN INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC) AFTER TAKEOFF. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: FOG, LOW CEILING, THE PILOT'S LACK OF RECENT INSTRUMENT EXPERIENCE, AND THE EXCESSIVE GROSS WEIGHT OF THE AIRPLANE.
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Browse: Minnesota · Piper aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
