Piper PA-28-181 accident near Phoenix, AZ
On February 26, 2011, a Piper PA-28-181 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Phoenix, AZ. 3 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- February 26, 2011
- Place
- Phoenix, AZ
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-28-181 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 3 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 33.903°N, 111.877°W
- NTSB ID
- 20110225X05255
Official records · WPR11FA145
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On February 25, 2011, about 2005 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-28-181, N910PA, impacted mountainous terrain about 20 miles northeast of Deer Valley Airport (DVT), Phoenix, Arizona. Bird Acquisition LLC., d.b.a. TransPac Aviation Academy, operated the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 141, as an instructional flight. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and two students were fatally injured. The airplane was substantially damaged during the impact sequence and subsequent post impact fire. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the night instrument training flight. A company flight plan had been filed for the night flight that had departed DVT about 1907. The flight was scheduled to return to DVT about 2230. According to the operator, the flight was dispatched at 1847 with a CFI and two students to conduct a training flight. The accident flight was the ninth lesson out of 40 lessons in the instrument rating, Chinese Ab-initio Course syllabus, and was an introduction to VOR (very high frequency omnidirectional range) and GPS (global positioning system) tracking and intercepting. The airplane was refueled by Cutter Aviation with an addition of 34 gallons 100-low lead aviation fuel, as requested by the CFI, at 1900. The airplane departed shortly thereafter. At 2230, the operator expected that the airplane would be back at their facility. At 2300, a late alarm sounded notifying the operators' dispatchers of the overdue airplane. At that point, the operator's emergency response plan was initiated, which inclu
Probable cause
The pilot and flight instructor's failure to adequately monitor the flight task and environment while maneuvering to maintain sufficient altitude with rising terrain in dark night conditions and the flight instructor's improper decision to practice in an area known to have no illumination, which led to collision with a rock outcropping.
More accidents in AZ
- De Havilland DHC-6-300, Sep 27, 1989
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- Cessna 421C, Sep 2, 1995
Browse: Arizona · 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.
