Piper PA 24-260 accident near Scottsdale, AZ
On April 10, 2018, a Piper PA 24-260 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Scottsdale, AZ. 6 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- April 10, 2018
- Place
- Scottsdale, AZ
- Aircraft
- Piper PA 24-260 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 6 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 33.636°N, 111.898°W
- NTSB ID
- 20180410X32846
Official records · WPR18FA119
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Air Traffic Control Graphic from Radar: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- Air Traffic Control Radar Data CSV Format: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On April 9, 2018, about 2048 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-24-260 airplane, N9456P, was destroyed when it impacted terrain shortly after takeoff from Scottsdale Airport (SDL), Scottsdale, Arizona. The airline transport pilot, the student pilot, and four passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to N9456P LLC and was operated by the pilots as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Nighttime visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the cross-country flight, which was destined for North Las Vegas Airport (VGT), Las Vegas, Nevada. Earlier that evening, the airline transport pilot flew the airplane from VGT to SDL to pick up the student pilot and the passengers and fly them to VGT. The inbound flight, which was the airline transport pilot's first flight in the airplane, departed from VGT at 1842 mst and landed at SDL at 2018. A video surveillance camera at SDL located on the ramp where the airplane was parked captured the occupants as they began to board the airplane about 2028. The surveillance video, along with photographs and videos posted to social media by one of the occupants, revealed that the student pilot occupied the front left seat and that the airline transport pilot occupied the front right seat. A video surveillance camera located midfield on the west side of the runway captured the airplane's departure from runway 03. The video showed that the airplane's wings were rocking during and shortly after rotation. The tower controller reported that, as the airplane bega
Probable cause
The flight instructor's failure to maintain airplane control during the initial climb as a result of the airplane being loaded above its maximum gross weight and beyond its aft center of gravity limits. Contributing to the accident was a degraded engine power output due to a preexisting engine cylinder intake valve spring failure, which further reduced the airplane's climb capability.
More accidents in AZ
- De Havilland DHC-6-300, Sep 27, 1989
- Cessna 402C, Jun 19, 1992
- Piper PA-31-350, Aug 17, 1983
- Piper PA-31-350, Feb 13, 1995
- 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.
