Piper PA-24 accident near Red Hill, VA
On October 24, 2008, a Piper PA-24 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Red Hill, VA. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- October 24, 2008
- Place
- Red Hill, VA
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-24 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 37.940°N, 78.549°W
- NTSB ID
- 20081025X01226
Official records · ERA09FA029
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- ATC Communications Excerpts Transcript: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- ATC Radar Tracking Data: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- ATC Radar Tracking Data (Electronic File): Document (TXT), on ntsb.gov
- ATC Radar Data, Derived Engineering Units (Electronic File): Document (TXT), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 24, 2008, about 1901 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-24-260, N8820P, was destroyed when it departed controlled flight and impacted trees and terrain near Red Hill, Virginia, while being vectored for an instrument approach to Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport (CHO), Charlottesville, Virginia. The certificated private pilot and the passenger were fatally injured. The personal flight was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the destination airport, and the flight operated on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Lockheed Martin Services (LMS) information, about 1633 the pilot telephoned LMS, and filed an IFR flight plan from Asheville Regional Airport (AVL), Asheville, North Carolina to Orange County Airport (OMH), Orange, Virginia. The pilot filed CHO as the alternate airport, which was 25 miles west-southwest of OMH. About 1726, the airplane departed AVL. Air traffic control (ATC) radar tracking data indicated that the airplane's cruise altitude was 7,000 feet above mean sea level (msl). About 9 minutes prior to the accident, the pilot requested the "GPS-8" instrument approach procedure (IAP) to OMH. About 6 minutes prior to the accident, when the airplane was 45 miles southwest of OMH, ATC cleared it to descend to 4,000 feet. Approximately 2 minutes after the descent clearance was issued, the pilot radioed ATC that the visibility at OMH was "right at the minimums," and requested a diversion to C
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control due to an improper repair to the stabilator, which resulted in an in-flight failure of the stabilator. Contributing to the accident was the descent in turbulence, at airspeeds above the maximum structural cruise speed.
More accidents in VA
- Boeing 757-200, Sep 11, 2001
- Beech B99, Sep 23, 1985
- Beech 65, Sep 10, 1995
- Beech 200, Oct 24, 2004
- Piper PA-31-310, Nov 14, 1982
Browse: Virginia · 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.
