Piper PA60 accident near Greenville, ME

On July 30, 2018, a Piper PA60 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Greenville, ME. 3 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.

Date

July 30, 2018

Place

Greenville, ME

Aircraft

Piper PA60 · Airplane

Injuries

3 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Destroyed

Position

45.000°N, 69.000°W

NTSB ID

20180731X41318

Official records · ERA18FA206

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

Air traffic control records

• Air Traffic Control Transcript: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
• FAA Factual Report - Turbo Controller Testing: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov

NTSB summary

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn July 30, 2018, about 1044 eastern daylight time (EDT), a Piper PA-60-602P, Canadian registration C-GRRS, was destroyed when it impacted terrain while attempting to land at Greenville Airport (3B1), Greenville, Maine. The foreign-certificated pilot and two passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under Canadian Aviation Regulations as a recreational flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at 3B1 at the time of the accident, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight, which departed Pembroke Airport (CYTA), Pembroke, Ontario, Canada, about 0905, and was destined for Charlottetown Airport (CYYG), Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada. According to the CYTA airport manager, the pilot had been a regular customer at the airport for several years. The pilot flew the accident airplane into CYTA 3 days before the accident and purchased 117 gallons of 100LL fuel. The airport manager, who personally fueled the airplane that day, said that he topped off the wing tanks first, followed by the center tank. He did not fuel the auxiliary tank. The manager said that each of the fuel caps felt tight and he made sure they were properly fitted back onto each tank. The airplane was then placed in a hangar until the morning of the accident. A review of air traffic control communications revealed that, after departure, the airplane climbed and leveled off at 23,000 ft mean sea level (msl) and the pilot contacted the Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center at 1019:39. About 13 minutes later, the pi

Probable cause

The pilot's exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack while maneuvering to land, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.

More accidents in ME

• Bombardier CL-600-2B16, Jan 26, 2026
• Cessna 172N, Jun 22, 2006
• Cessna 172N, Nov 16, 2012
• Cessna U206F, Sep 14, 2003
• Piper PA-32R-301, Aug 18, 2000

Browse: Maine · Piper aircraft

See it on the map

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