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| Date: | Saturday 31 December 2016 |
| Time: | 17:45 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-28R-200 Arrow |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N2806R |
| MSN: | 28R-35293 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1969 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2766 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming IO-360-C1C |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Vienna, IL -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Pella Municipal Airport, IA (KPEA) |
| Nashville, TN | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On December 31, 2016, about 1745 central standard time, a Piper PA 28R-200 airplane, N2806R, impacted trees and terrain near Vienna, Illinois. The commercial pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed during the impact. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Night marginal visual meteorological conditions were reported near the accident site about the time of the accident, and the flight was not operated on a flight plan. The flight originated from the Pella Municipal Airport (PEA), near Pella, Iowa, at an unknown time and was destined for Nashville, Tennessee.
The non-instrument rated commercial pilot departed on a cross-country flight in his high performance airplane. There was no record of the pilot receiving an official preflight weather briefing. However, the pilot may have obtained text weather information from a weather service while enroute. Images taken during the flight showed the airplane flying above an overcast cloud layer. Review of satellite imagery indicated that the overcast layer covered the area near the accident site and continued to the intended destination. Marginal visual to instrument meteorological conditions were reported near the accident site about the time of the accident. The investigation could not determine if there were breaks in the low overcast or how the pilot got below the overcast. However, a witness saw the airplane flying at a very low altitude and reported dark night conditions were present. The witness subsequently heard a loud crash, which he thought was the airplane, and called 9-1-1. The airplane was not on fire in flight and he did not see any subsequent fire or explosion. The smell of fuel was present in the area, which led emergency responders to the wreckage within a wooded area. The wreckage path through the woods was a nearly straight 150-ft descending path. Linear separations of tree branches and the S-shaped bending of a propeller blade were consistent with the engine producing power at impact. A postaccident examination of the wreckage did not reveal any preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.
Probable Cause: The non-instrument rated pilot's decision to descend through an overcast layer of weather during dark night conditions, which resulted in the airplane impacting trees.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=94551
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=2806R
Location
Images:
Photo: NTSB
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Jan-2017 05:00 | Geno | Added |
| 01-Jan-2017 08:55 | dfix1 | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 02-Jan-2017 11:20 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Operator, Nature, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 03-Jan-2017 05:57 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source, ] |
| 23-Feb-2017 10:32 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Photo, ] |
| 11-Nov-2018 08:31 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
| 11-Nov-2018 09:08 | harro | Updated [Source, Narrative, Photo, ] |
| 12-Mar-2025 12:58 | Captain Adam | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
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