Piper PA-32-260 accident near Fostoria, OH
On February 23, 2022, a Piper PA-32-260 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Fostoria, OH. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- February 23, 2022
- Place
- Fostoria, OH
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-32-260 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 41.141°N, 83.377°W
- NTSB ID
- 20220223104683
Official records · CEN22FA131
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Air Traffic Control Memo: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn February 22, 2022, about 2241 eastern standard time, a Piper PA32 airplane, N3952W, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Fostoria, Ohio. The pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 business flight. The flight was conducted as an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight from Effingham County Memorial Airport (1H2), Effingham, Illinois to Findlay Airport (FDY), Findlay, Ohio. The filed IFR flight plan stipulated a cruise altitude of 9,000 ft mean sea level (msl), an estimated time en route of 1 hour 28 minutes with 4 hours of fuel on board. A review of archived Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) automatic dependent surveillance broadcast data revealed that the airplane departed 1H2 about 1956 central standard time, climbed to about 7,000 ft msl and proceeded on a relatively direct track toward DOYET, the initial approach fix for the RNAV/GPS runway 25 instrument approach, as shown in figure 1. Figure 1: Published Instrument Approach Procedure After passing DOYET, the airplane made about a 30° left turn, consistent with a teardrop entry into the procedure turn. The airplane aligned with the outbound side of the holding pattern for about a mile before turning left again. As the airplane flew north of the published holding pattern in its final minute of flight its altitude decreased from about 3,000 ft to about 2,600 ft before climbing back to about 3,000 ft About 4 nm from the IAF, the airplane turned right, and descended rapidly in a spiral and impacted terrain on
Probable cause
The pilot’s loss of airplane control in night instrument meteorological conditions during the procedure turn of an instrument approach due to spatial disorientation, which resulted in a collision with terrain.
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Browse: Ohio · 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.
