Piper PA-28RT-201T accident near Brownsville, TN
On April 21, 2021, a Piper PA-28RT-201T (airplane) was involved in an accident near Brownsville, TN. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- April 21, 2021
- Place
- Brownsville, TN
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-28RT-201T · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 35.554°N, 89.392°W
- NTSB ID
- 20210421102954
Official records · ERA21FA189
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Era21fa189 - FAA Air Traffic Control Radar_audio: Recording (MP4), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn April 20, 2021, at 2052 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28RT-201T airplane, N4303G, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Brownsville, Tennessee. The student pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the student pilot’s flight instructor, he and the student met mid-morning to discuss a solo cross-country flight from Pearland Regional Airport (LVJ), Houston, Texas, to Kyle-Oakley Field Airport (CEY), Murray, Kentucky. The student told the instructor that he needed to visit his father, who had recently been admitted to the hospital. The flight instructor stated that “it was supposed to be a daytime flight,” expecting the student to depart no later than 1300 or 1400 due to the weather coming in later in the evening. Review of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B) data found that the student pilot departed LVJ at 1720, proceeded southbound for a few minutes, then northeast on an en route course that was generally consistent with a direct route of flight to CEY for about 3 hours and 30 minutes at altitudes between about 7,000 ft mean sea level (msl) to 9,000 ft msl. The course showed little deviation until the final 2 minutes of flight. Review of air traffic control communications provided by the FAA revealed that in the final few minutes of the flight, the pilot was communicating with Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center (Memphis Center) while receiving visual flight rules (VFR)
Probable cause
The student pilot’s continued visual flight rules flight into night instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation and a rapid uncontrolled descent into terrain. Contributing to the accident were the self-induced and external pressures that likely influenced the pilot’s decision to both initiate and continue the flight.
More accidents in TN
- Cessna 501, May 29, 2021
- Cessna 421B, Dec 2, 2004
- Piper PA32RT, Mar 5, 2024
- Bell 206, Apr 4, 2016
- Beech A36, Sep 1, 2007
Browse: Tennessee · 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.
