Piper PA-23-250 accident near Sault Ste Marie, MI

On August 14, 2006, a Piper PA-23-250 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Sault Ste Marie, MI. 4 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.

Date

August 14, 2006

Place

Sault Ste Marie, MI

Aircraft

Piper PA-23-250 · Airplane

Injuries

4 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Destroyed

Position

46.256°N, 84.450°W

NTSB ID

20060822X01224

Official records · CHI06FA232

• Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation

Air traffic control records

• Transcript - Preflight Weather Briefing: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
• Transcripts - Air Traffic Control: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov

NTSB summary

HISTORY OF FLIGHT On August 14, 2006, at 0918 eastern daylight time (all referenced times are eastern daylight time), a Piper PA-23-250 Aztec, N133BH, operated by Spring City Aviation, Inc., Waukesha, Wisconsin, was destroyed during an explosion and ground fire following an in-flight collision with terrain while attempting to land at the Chippewa County International Airport (CIU), Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed at the time of the accident. The instructional flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 while on an instrument flight plan. The flight instructor, dual student, and two passengers were fatally injured. The flight departed the Waukesha County Airport (UES), Waukesha, Wisconsin, at approximately 0711. At 0624, the flight instructor contacted Green Bay Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) to file an instrument flight rule (IFR) flight plan and to obtain a weather briefing. The planned route of flight was to depart UES, then proceed direct to the Escanaba (ESC) VHF Omni-directional Range (VOR), and then direct to the Sault Ste. Marie (SSM) VOR. The SSM VOR was an initial approach fix for the destination airport. The requested cruise altitude was 11,000 feet mean sea level (msl). The briefer told the flight instructor that marginal visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed along the route of flight, with areas of IMC near Escanaba, Michigan, and Manistique, Michigan. The briefer told the pilot that the forecast weather near the destination airport was VMC, with pe

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during the circling approach and his failure to perform a missed approach when the airplane was no longer in a position to land using normal flight maneuvers. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to operate below the approach's authorized minimum descent altitude (MDA) before having the airport/runway environment visible. Additional

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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.