Piper PA-28-161 accident near Boynton Beach, FL
On January 25, 2021, a Piper PA-28-161 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Boynton Beach, FL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- January 25, 2021
- Place
- Boynton Beach, FL
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-28-161 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 26.541°N, 80.037°W
- NTSB ID
- 20210125102547
Official records · ERA21LA111
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- ATC Specialists Factual Report: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- ATC Sr - Attachment 1 - Partial Transcript: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- ATC Sr - Attachment 2 - Ads-B Data: Document (XLSX), on ntsb.gov
- Air Traffic Control Accident Package (Excerpts): Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
On January 24, 2021, about 2000 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-28-161, N266ND, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Boynton Beach, Florida. The private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. A review of air traffic control voice, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), and weather data revealed that the airplane departed under visual flight rules and turned to a southerly heading before contacting air traffic control. While in cruise flight about 1,000 ft, the pilot requested visual flight rules flight following and routing “along the shoreline.” The controller approved the request, issued the altimeter setting, and instructed the pilot to proceed offshore and “follow the shoreline northbound at or below 500 feet.” At 1958:37, the pilot acknowledged the instructions and repeated the altimeter setting as the airplane began a descending left turn to the east. The target identified as the accident airplane continued an eastbound descent on a heading about perpendicular to the shoreline when the controller assigned the airplane a new transponder code. When the pilot acknowledged, the airplane was at 300 ft and descending. At 1959:25, the accident airplane displayed a transponder code one digit off of the assigned code. At that time, the airplane was crossing the beach at 225 ft and descending. Once over water, the airplane’s track depicted a shallow, descending left turn. At 2000:00, the controller repeated the transponder instructions, but the airplane’
Probable cause
The pilot’s controlled flight into the ocean at night due to his unrecognized spatial disorientation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s distraction with the tuning of his transponder while maneuvering over an area with reduced visual references.
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.
