Piper PA28R accident near McKinney, TX
On December 31, 2016, a Piper PA28R (airplane) was involved in an accident near McKinney, TX. 3 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- December 31, 2016
- Place
- McKinney, TX
- Aircraft
- Piper PA28R · Airplane
- Injuries
- 3 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 33.207°N, 96.733°W
- NTSB ID
- 20161231X24638
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn December 31, 2016, about 1725 central standard time, a Piper PA-28R-200 airplane, N4407T, and a Luscombe 8A light sport airplane, N2889K, were destroyed when they collided in midair about 0.5 mile east of Aero Country Airport (T31), McKinney, Texas. The private pilot of the Piper and the commercial pilot and the passenger onboard the Luscombe were fatally injured. Both airplanes were owned by private individuals, and they were being operated by their respective pilots under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as personal flights. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for either flight. The Luscombe had departed T31 just before the accident, and the Piper was returning to T31. According to a pilot-rated witness who was outside his hangar near midfield at T31, the Luscombe departed on runway 17 and turned left onto the crosswind leg of the traffic pattern. The witness then noticed the Piper approaching the airport from the west. As the Luscombe turned left onto the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the Piper continued eastbound crossing over the runway at midfield at what appeared to be pattern altitude. The Piper hit the aft fuselage section of the Luscombe. When the airplanes collided, the Luscombe was flying north, and the Piper was flying east. The witness saw no indication that either pilot saw the other airplane. After the collision, the Luscombe "spun around to the west and went nose down" as pieces of its tail separated and fluttered down in a slightly south direction. Both airplanes were based at T31.
Probable cause
The pilot's use of an alternate traffic pattern entry procedure, which resulted in his inability to see and avoid the other airplane, which was flying the preferred traffic pattern, and the subsequent midair collision.
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Browse: Texas · 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.
