Piper PA 28-181 accident near Waterford, OH
On July 8, 2017, a Piper PA 28-181 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Waterford, OH. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- July 8, 2017
- Place
- Waterford, OH
- Aircraft
- Piper PA 28-181 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 39.576°N, 81.690°W
- NTSB ID
- 20170708X73501
Official records · CEN17FA258
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- FAA ATC Accident Package Excerpt - Communication Summary: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- Recorded Air Traffic Control Radar Tabular Data: Document (CSV), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn July 8, 2017, at 0942 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28-181 airplane, N793MA, impacted the Muskingum River Fly Ash Reservoir near Waterford, Ohio. The private pilot and the passenger were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was registered to and operated the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and the cross-country flight was operated on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan. The airplane departed Logansport/Cass County Airport (GGP), Logansport, Indiana, at 0758 and was en route to Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport (PKB), Parkersburg, West Virginia. According to air traffic control and radar information, the airplane was in cruise flight about 7,000 ft mean sea level (msl) until the initial descent to PKB began at 0933. The airplane began a steady descent and proceeded toward OWAVE, the initial approach fix for the RNAV (GPS) RWY 21 approach to PKB. The final 2.5 minutes of the radar data revealed several sharp turns left and right (figure 1). The last radar point recorded the airplane at 0942 at 2,950 ft msl, about 2,100 ft above ground level (agl), which was 0.5 miles northeast of the accident site. The accident site is marked with the yellow pin in figure 1. Figure 1 – Flight Path A witness, who was 0.78 nautical mile southwest of the accident site (as shown in figure 1), reported that low overcast clouds were present as he heard the airplane fly overhead. The airplane then exited
Probable cause
The pilot's loss of airplane control due to spatial disorientation in instrument meteorological conditions.
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Browse: Ohio · 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.
