Piper PA-28-181 accident near Fort Pierce, FL
On January 19, 2004, a Piper PA-28-181 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Fort Pierce, FL. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- January 19, 2004
- Place
- Fort Pierce, FL
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-28-181 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 1 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 27.486°N, 80.384°W
- NTSB ID
- 20040129X00123
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On January 19, 2004, about 0106 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-28-181, N298PA, registered to Merrill Lynch Business Financial Services Inc., and operated by Pan Am International Flight Academy Inc., impacted with trees, a power line and the ground while on an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to the Saint Lucie County Airport, Fort Pierce, Florida. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight. The airplane was destroyed. The certified flight instructor and the private pilot-rated student were fatally injured. The private-pilot rated passenger received serious injuries. The flight departed from West Palm Beach, Florida, at 2345 on January 18, 2004. The instrument training flight departed Fort Pierce about 2100 on January 18 and flew to Palm Beach International Airport to practice instrument approaches. After landing at Palm Beach, the airplane was refueled with 28 gallons of 100 LL aviation fuel and departed for the return flight to Fort Pierce via Vero Beach. The flight executed a practice approach, but did not land at Vero Beach Municipal Airport. At 0053:46, the controller cleared the flight for the ILS approach to runway 09 at Fort Pierce by stating, "two niner eight papa alpha yes sir seven west of lucie heading one two zero maintain one thousand eight hundred until established cleared i l s runway nine approach into fort pierce airport." The pilot responded, "heading one zero heading one two zero maintain a thousand two hundred and
Probable cause
The flight instructor's failure to comply with the instrument approach procedure in that he descended prematurely below decision height resulting in an in-flight collision with trees, power lines and the ground. Contributing factors were the dark night light condition and the low ceiling.
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Browse: Florida · 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.
