Piper PA-44-180 accident near Browerville, MN
On October 24, 2007, a Piper PA-44-180 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Browerville, MN. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- October 24, 2007
- Place
- Browerville, MN
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-44-180 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 46.159°N, 94.658°W
- NTSB ID
- 20071102X01708
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 23, 2007, about 2212 central daylight time, a twin-engine Piper PA-44-180, N327ND, operated by the University of North Dakota, was substantially damaged during an in-flight collision with terrain near Browerville, Minnesota. The dual instructional flight was being conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 on a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan. The private pilot and flight instructor were fatally injured. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The cross-country flight departed St. Paul Downtown Airport (STP), St. Paul, Minnesota, at 2115. The intended destination was Grand Forks International Airport (GFK), Grand Forks, North Dakota. The pilot and flight instructor planned a three-leg, dual instructional, cross-country night flight as part of the University of North Dakota (UND) commercial/instrument flight program. The initial leg was from GFK to Hutson Field Airport (GAF), Grafton, North Dakota. From GAF, the flight planned to fly to STP before returning to GFK. The pilot contacted flight service at 1711 and filed two VFR flight plans. The first was for a flight from GAF to STP, with a proposed departure time of 1815. The second was for the return flight from STP to GFK, with a proposed time off of 2115. A Direct User Access Terminal (DUAT) session attributed to the flight was initiated at 1713. The flight departed GFK about 1745, and made an intermediate stop at GAF before continuing to STP. At 1825, the flight crew contacted Grand Forks Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) and
Probable cause
An in-flight collision with at least one Canada goose, and the resulting damage to the left stabilator that caused the airplane to become uncontrollable. Contributing to the accident was the night lighting condition, which precluded any possibility of the flight crew seeing the bird(s) prior to impact.
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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.
