Piper PA32 accident near Lake City, FL
On January 25, 2020, a Piper PA32 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Lake City, FL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- January 25, 2020
- Place
- Lake City, FL
- Aircraft
- Piper PA32 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 30.157°N, 82.669°W
- NTSB ID
- 20200125X95019
Official records · ERA20FA085
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Sound Spectrum Study - Attachment 1 (Audio File Excerpt): Audio recording (WAV), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On January 25, 2020, about 0930 eastern standard time, a Piper PA32-260, N55455, was destroyed when was involved in an accident near Lake City, Florida. The private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. A witness stated that the pilot flew to Cannon Creek Airpark (15FL), Lake City, Florida, the weekend before the accident. At that time, the pilot said the engine “cut out” on short final approach to the runway; however, after landing, the pilot performed an engine run-up, and the engine performed normally. The pilot and the witness subsequently opened the engine cowling and observed an oil leak. The pilot contacted a local mechanic to fix the oil leak. A couple of days later, the pilot ran the engine, and no oil leaks were noted. The night before the accident flight, the pilot and the witness taxied the airplane to the fuel tank and topped off the wing tanks and left-wing tip tank, but they did not put fuel in the right-wing tip tank because it had a fuel leak. On the morning of the accident, the witness and pilot performed a preflight inspection of the airplane and noted no anomalies. The witness watched the airplane take off from runway 36 and noticed that the pilot “turned hard left” after the airplane cleared the trees, which was earlier than normal. The witness returned to his vehicle when he heard a loud bang and saw smoke. He drove over to the smoke and saw that the airplane was engulfed in flames. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION The airplane came to rest on the side of
Probable cause
The pilot's exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and subsequent loss of control at low altitude.
More accidents in FL
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Browse: Florida · 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.
