Piper PA-31-350 accident near Medford, OR
On December 6, 2021, a Piper PA-31-350 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Medford, OR. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- December 6, 2021
- Place
- Medford, OR
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-31-350 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 42.361°N, 122.877°W
- NTSB ID
- 20211206104346
Official records · WPR22FA055
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Tower Communications: Document (MP3), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn December 05, 2021, at 1652, a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain airplane, N64BR, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident in Medford, Oregon. The pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot and passenger made a flight on November 24 from the airplane’s home airport in Fallon, Nevada, to Medford. After landing, the pilot noticed the airplane was leaking a large amount of fuel from the right wing root. The pilot arranged to make the necessary repairs with a fixed based operator (FBO) at the airport and drove a rental car back home to Nevada. On December 4, a mechanic at the FBO notified the pilot that the maintenance to the airplane was completed. The pilot responded that he would plan to get to the airport about 1430 the following day (on the day of the accident). The pilot and passenger drove to Medford arriving about 1600. The exact radio communication times could not be confirmed for the accident flight. The pilot received an instrument flight rules (IFR) clearance and was issued the BRUTE7 departure procedure with the LANKS transition. The published BRUTE SEVEN Standard Instrument Departure (SID) with a takeoff from runway 14 consisted of a “climbing right turn direct MEF [Medford] NDB [nondirectional beacon],” and continue to the BRUTE intersection on a bearing of 066°. After receiving the clearance, the controller informed the pilot the overcast layer base was at 200 ft above ground level (agl) the tops of the layer was at 2,500 f
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain aircraft control during the initial climb into clouds due to spatial disorientation, which resulted in an uncontrolled descent and collision with terrain.
More accidents in OR
- Cessna T207A, Aug 21, 1986
- Piper PA-28-180, Sep 1, 1984
- Piper PA-28RT-201, Mar 12, 1984
- Piper PA 46-310P, Apr 7, 2017
- Cessna 172, Jun 23, 2012
Browse: Oregon · 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.
