Piper PA-44-180 accident near Woodruff, WI

On September 24, 2010, a Piper PA-44-180 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Woodruff, WI. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.

Date

September 24, 2010

Place

Woodruff, WI

Aircraft

Piper PA-44-180 · Airplane

Injuries

2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Destroyed

Position

46.025°N, 89.739°W

NTSB ID

20100924X30155

Official records · CEN10FA557

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

Air traffic control records

• Air Traffic Control Transmission Summary: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
• ATC Transcript (Minneapolis Center): Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
• Weather Briefing Transcript: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov

NTSB summary

On September 23, 2010, about 2013 central daylight time, a Piper model PA-44-180 airplane, N570ER, was destroyed during an impact with the Trout River, near Woodruff, Wisconsin. The commercial pilot and his passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by JA Aero Inc., under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, while on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan. Night instrument meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross-country flight that departed the Aurora Municipal Airport (ARR), Sugar Grove, Illinois, at 1819, and was en route to Lakeland Airport (ARV), near Woodruff, Wisconsin. At 1746, an individual representing N570ER, contacted the Princeton Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) to request a weather briefing and to file an IFR flight plan. The pilot filed for an 1800 departure from ARR, with direct routing to ARV, and a cruise altitude of 6,000 feet mean sea level (msl). He estimated his time en route to ARV would be about 2 hours, and that the airplane had 4 hours of fuel onboard. He identified Wausau Downtown Airport (AUW), Wausau, Wisconsin as his alternate destination. The weather briefer provided a full weather briefing, which consisted of a synopsis of the current and forecast weather conditions. The weather briefer told the pilot there was a warm front extending over Wisconsin that was producing widespread light to heavy rain showers. The briefer also told the pilot that instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) would prevail throughout the evening, with occasional moderate turbulence below 10,

Probable cause

The pilot's decision to attempt an instrument approach in turbulent night instrument meteorological conditions with a recently-identified deficiency with his instrument flight proficiency, which resulted in a loss of airplane control as a result of spatial disorientation.

More accidents in WI

• Douglas DC-9-14, Sep 6, 1985
• Beech 200, Nov 16, 1987
• Piper PA-28-140, Feb 3, 1991
• Piper PA-32R-300, Aug 19, 1990
• Cessna 421C, Jul 1, 2017

Browse: Wisconsin · Piper aircraft

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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.