Piper PA-32R-301 accident near Beaumont, TX
On January 3, 2004, a Piper PA-32R-301 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Beaumont, TX. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- January 3, 2004
- Place
- Beaumont, TX
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-32R-301 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 30.071°N, 94.216°W
- NTSB ID
- 20040109X00046
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On January 2, 2004, approximately 1815 central standard time, a Piper PA-32R-301, single-engine airplane, N396HP, was destroyed upon impact with terrain following an in-flight collision with power lines while landing at the Beaumont Municipal Airport (BMT), near Beaumont, Texas. The flight instructor (CFI) and private pilot receiving instruction were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to Anderson Air LLC., of Beaumont, Texas, and was operated by the pilot. Night instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 instructional flight. The local flight originated from BMT, at 1630. One of the owners of the aircraft reported that the pilot had recently hired the CFI to provide instruction and prepare him for an instrument exam. The accident flight was a familiarization flight and the first flight with the CFI and student together. Review of the radio communications between the Beaumont Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) and the accident aircraft by the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) revealed the CFI requested radar vectors for the Very High Frequency Omnidirection Range (VOR) / Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) Runway 13 instrument approach to BMT. ARTCC reported the sky condition at Southeast Texas Regional Airport (BPT), located approximately 13 miles southeast of BMT, to be 100 feet overcast with one-mile visibility. When the airplane was approximately four miles northwest of the runway, the pilot cancelled the IFR clearance and
Probable cause
The flight instructor's failure to maintain clearance with a static line. Contributing factors were the low cloud ceiling weather conditions and night light conditions.
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Browse: Texas · 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.
