Piper PA 31 accident near Amagansett, NY

On June 2, 2018, a Piper PA 31 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Amagansett, NY. 4 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.

Date

June 2, 2018

Place

Amagansett, NY

Aircraft

Piper PA 31 · Airplane

Injuries

4 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Destroyed

Position

40.572°N, 72.075°W

NTSB ID

20180602X95130

Official records · ERA18LA157

• Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation

Air traffic control records

• Audio Excerpt of ATC Communications: Audio recording (WAV), on ntsb.gov

NTSB summary

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn June 2, 2018, about 1433 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-31-350, N41173, was destroyed when it impacted the Atlantic Ocean near Amagansett, New York. The commercial pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was privately owned by the pilot who was operating it as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Marginal visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight, which originated from Newport State Airport (UUU), Newport, Rhode Island, and was destined for East Hampton Airport (HTO), East Hampton, New York. The accident airplane was one of a flight of two airplanes that had flown to UUU from HTO. The pilot of the second airplane, a Beech Bonanza, stated that he and the accident pilot talked for about 1 hour about the weather along the route of flight before departing for the return flight to HTO. They both planned to fly south toward Block Island, Rhode Island, then turn west and follow the Long Island shoreline to HTO. They looked at the weather online. It was visual flight rules (VFR) to the destination. The Bonanza departed first, followed by the accident airplane. After takeoff, the pilot of the Bonanza contacted air traffic control (ATC) and was informed that there was a thunderstorm near HTO and that it was moving slowly. The Bonanza pilot stated that he did not hear the accident pilot on the air traffic control frequency en route, and that, upon contacting the tower controller at HTO, he could hear the controller attempting to contact the accident airplane. The Bonan

Probable cause

The pilot's decision to fly under a thunderstorm and a subsequent encounter with turbulence and restricted visibility in heavy rain, which resulted in a loss of control.

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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.