Piper PA25 accident near Floral City, FL
On September 23, 2020, a Piper PA25 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Floral City, FL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- September 23, 2020
- Place
- Floral City, FL
- Aircraft
- Piper PA25 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 28.772°N, 82.312°W
- NTSB ID
- 20200923X84757
Official records · ERA20LA330
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
On September 23, 2020, about 0750 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-25 airplane, N6106Z, was destroyed when it was involved in accident near Floral City, Florida. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 aerial application flight. According to a flight instructor who was preparing for flight at the nearby Inverness Airport (INF), Inverness, Florida, he observed the accident pilot fill the airplane with chemicals and depart runway 19 shortly thereafter. The flight instructor subsequently departed and remained in the traffic pattern where he observed the pilot spraying fields south of INF. According to a solo student pilot also in the traffic pattern at INF, while turning right downwind for runway 01, he glanced down and saw that the accident airplane was “spraying” and it looked like “he pitched up to clear something and then abruptly went down.” The student pilot subsequently observed fire and smoke emanating from where he last saw the airplane. An additional witness was located on a tractor in a nearby farm field. He reported that he observed the accident airplane spraying from west to east and it had “dipped down two times, coming down near the trees and then coming back up.” He reported that at that time of day the sun would have been in the pilot’s eyes. He then observed the airplane on its third approach, and it was “real low” and he “never saw him [the airplane] come back up.” He subsequently observed black smoke and heard explosions. According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who t
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to see and avoid a tree while flying towards the rising sun during an aerial application flight, which resulted in a collision with the tree and a subsequent loss of airplane control.
More accidents in FL
- Grumman G-73T, Dec 19, 2005
- Beech B90, Jan 5, 1994
- Beech B-90, Sep 3, 1999
- Cessna 182B, Feb 7, 1982
- Pilatus Aircraft Ltd PC-12/47, Jun 7, 2012
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.
