Piper PA-32-300 accident near Empire, NV
On May 17, 2026, a Piper PA-32-300 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Empire, NV. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- May 17, 2026
- Place
- Empire, NV
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-32-300 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 40.529°N, 119.473°W
- NTSB ID
- 20260517203001
NTSB summary
On May 17, 2026, about 0738 PDT, a Piper PA-32-300, N8502N, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Empire, Nevada. The pilot and passenger sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. An airport surveillance camera at Reno Stead Airport (RTS), Reno, Nevada showed the airplane depart runway 32 at 0703. Preliminary ADS-B data provided by the FAA revealed that the airplane maneuvered to the northeast after takeoff and climbed to a cruise altitude of about 9,700 ft mean sea level (msl). About 18 minutes later, the airplane turned to the northwest and climbed to 11,600 ft msl. The airplane then turned north and continued its climb to a maximum altitude of 14,700 ft msl before it made a right turn towards the east and entered a right descending spiral. (See Figure 1). The last radar data hit showed that the airplane was located about 6 nm southwest of Empire, NV, at an altitude of 11,275 ft msl traveling at 167 knots ground speed. Figure 1. Google Earth with ADS-B overlay Preliminary air traffic control (ATC) audio revealed that ATC cleared the pilot to maneuver back towards Reno after the pilot stated that he was in clouds and was going to turn around. An alert notice (ALNOT) was then initiated by Oakland ARTCC (ZOA) after they lost communication with the pilot and the airplane disappeared from their radar screen. According to the pilot’s route information in Foreflight, his destination was Sunrise Skypark Airport (ID40), Marsing, Idaho. Meteorological reports indicated that a c
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Browse: Nevada · 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.
