Piper PA-46-310P accident near Hawthorne, CA
On May 28, 2000, a Piper PA-46-310P (airplane) was involved in an accident near Hawthorne, CA. 3 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- May 28, 2000
- Place
- Hawthorne, CA
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-46-310P · Airplane
- Injuries
- 3 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 33.910°N, 118.339°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001212X21028
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On May 28, 2000, at 1159 hours Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-46-310P, N567YV, collided with the ground in a shopping mall parking lot while maneuvering to return to the runway during the takeoff initial climb from the Hawthorne, California, airport. The airplane, owned and operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91, was destroyed in the collision sequence and post crash fire. The private pilot and two passengers sustained fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight and no flight plan was filed. The flight was originating at the time of the occurrence as a cross-country flight to Las Vegas, Nevada. The accident sequence was heard and observed by witnesses both on the airport and in the vicinity of the crash site. The airport witnesses, who knew the pilot and the airplane, hold various pilot certificates, and were on the ramp at different locations around the airport. All described the engine sounds during the takeoff as abnormal in various degrees. One witness said that while the sound was "different" than he had heard coming from this airplane before, it was not unusual enough to make him stop polishing his airplane. When the witness did look at the departure end of the runway, he observed that the airplane's climb out angle was "much shallower" than he had ever seen this airplane climb before, and he believed the takeoff ground roll had been longer than usual. Two other witnesses said the engine sounded "like a radial engine" and both believed that the power output was lower than normal. These two witnesses also
Probable cause
A partial loss of power due to water contamination in the fuel system and the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which failed to detect the water. The pilot's failure to perform an engine run-up before takeoff is also causal. Additional causes are the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed margin for the bank angle he initiated during the attempted return to runway maneuver and the
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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
