Piper PA46 accident near Saranac Lake, NY
On August 7, 2015, a Piper PA46 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Saranac Lake, NY. 4 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- August 7, 2015
- Place
- Saranac Lake, NY
- Aircraft
- Piper PA46 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 4 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 44.403°N, 74.204°W
- NTSB ID
- 20150807X03037
Official records · ERA15FA297
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Shelf Item - Flight Service Audio File: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On August 7, 2015, about 1750 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-46-500TP, N819TB, registered to Majestic Air LLC and operated by a private individual, was destroyed during collision with terrain, shortly after takeoff from Adirondack Regional Airport (SLK), Saranac Lake, New York. The private pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the planned flight to Greater Rochester International Airport (ROC), Rochester, New York. The airplane was based at ROC and flew uneventfully to SLK earlier during the day of the accident. Prior to the accident flight, the airplane was fueled with 44 gallons of Jet A aviation gasoline. The pilot then radioed flight service at 1734 and received his IFR clearance at 1744, which he read-back correctly. During the return flight, a witness, who was an airport employee, heard the pilot announce on the common traffic advisory frequency that the airplane was departing on runway 5. No further communications were received from the accident airplane and there were no eye witnesses to the accident. The accident airplane was subsequently located about 1830 in a wooded area approximately .5 mile northwest of the departure end of runway 5, by pilots in another airplane who observed smoke from a postcrash fire. PERSONNEL INFORMATION The pilot, age 67, held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land and ins
Probable cause
The pilot’s loss of airplane control during takeoff, which resulted from his impairment or incapacitation due to an acute cardiac event.
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Browse: New York · 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.
