Piper Aircraft Inc PA-44-180 accident near West Palm Beach, FL
On November 11, 2010, a Piper Aircraft Inc PA-44-180 (airplane) was involved in an accident near West Palm Beach, FL. 4 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- November 11, 2010
- Place
- West Palm Beach, FL
- Aircraft
- Piper Aircraft Inc PA-44-180 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 4 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 26.683°N, 80.096°W
- NTSB ID
- 20101111X83751
Official records · ERA11FA054
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Transcript of Radio Communications: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On November 11, 2010, at 1805 eastern standard time, a Piper PA44-180, N883FT, registered to and operated by the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) Aviation LLC, collided with the ground after an engine failure, shortly after takeoff from runway 10R at the Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), West Palm Beach, Florida. The instructional flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91, with a night visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan filed. The certificated flight instructor (CFI), a certificated commercial pilot and two passengers were killed, and the airplane was substantially damaged. There was a postcrash fire. The airplane was departing at the time of the accident, enroute to Melbourne, Florida (MLB). According to information from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control tower at PBI, a female voice, later determined to be the CFI, transmitted during initial climb that they had an engine failure and "needed to turn-around and land." The controller cleared the flight to land "any runway" and there was no further communications with the flight. A security video, provided by Galaxy Aviation located at PBI, showed the accident airplane taking off from runway 10R. The video was of poor quality due to the lights glaring into the camera from the main terminal. All that was viewable was the airplane's rotating beacon as it climbed and then started a slow turn to the left. The accident airplane continued to turn left until a large explosion was observed. According to the FIT flight train
Probable cause
The failure of both the pilot and the certified flight instructor to ensure that the left fuel selector was in the on position for takeoff and their failure to follow the proper procedures when the left engine lost power shortly after takeoff, resulting in an in-flight loss of control.
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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.
