# Accident 19980907022669A: Piper PA46350P, Centerville, NY, September 7, 1998 - Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: September 7, 1998, 19:45 local time - Place: Centerville, NY - Damage: Destroyed - Phase of flight: Normal Cruise - Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91) - Aircraft: N9150X, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N9150X-1999-02-19) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry model: Piper PA 46-350P (registry code 7104620, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-46-350p) (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: PIPER PA46350P - Reported engine: LYC TIO540AE2 - People aboard: 5 - Fatal injuries: 5 - Pilot flight hours: 910 total, 21 in the last 90 days - NTSB investigation: [NTSB IAD98FA106](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD98FA106) (OpenAirDocs) - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19980907022669A ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. CFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, ALL 5 POB SUFFERED FATAL INJ. (-23) ON 9/7/98, PIPER MALIBU, N9150X, DEPARTED MHT BOUND FOR GRIFFIN, IN. THE ACFT HAD TAKEN 87.4 GALLONS OF 100LL FUEL AT 12:10PM FROM STEAD AVIATION OF MHT AND WAS JUDGED TO BE FILLED TO CAPACITY. ON BOARD WERE THE PILOT, THREE MORE ADULTS AND ONE CHILD. AT 23:06 THE ACFT SWITCHED TO CLEVELAND CENTER AND SAID "GOOD NIGHT" TO NY CONTROLLERS. AT 23:43 THE ACFT WAS AT IT'SASSIGNED ALTITUDE OF 16000 IN AN AREA OF WEATHER CELLS WHEN IT DISAPPEARED FROM RADAR. CLEVELAND CONTROLLER CALLED REPEATEDLY. FINALLY CLEVELAND CENTER ASKED A PASSING AIRLINE TO LISTEN FOR ELT TRANSMISSIONS. THE AIRLINE DID SO, AND NEARLY IMMEDIATELY REPORTED A WEAK SIGNAL. THE WRECKAGE WAS DISCOVERED BY GROUND SEARCH PARTIES ABOUT 23:00 LOCAL TIME. THE WREAKAGE WAS SPREAD OVER A TRAIL OF APPROXIMATELY 6000' IN A NORTHERLY DIRECTION. THE TAIL SURFACES WERE THE MOST SOUGHERN OF THE DEBRIS, THE WINGS WERE FOUND ABOUT 3000' SHORT OF THE FUSELAGE AND SEPARATED BY ABOUT 1500'. THE FIVE OCCUPANTS OF THE AIRCRAFT WERE FOUND INSIDE THE FUSELAGE; ALL OCCUPANTS SUSTAINED FATAL INJURIES. THE PILOT, DAVID MAGGS, WAS IN THE LEFT SEAT AND PASSENGER, KEN NETH PROCTOR, WAS IN THE RIGHT SEAT. BOTH INDIVIDUALS WERE STRAPPED IN WITHSEATBELTS AND SHOULDER HARNESSES. (.4) THE AIRPLANE WAS ON AN IFR FLIGHT PLAN, LEVEL AT 16,000 FEET, WHEN RADAR AND RADIO CONTACT WAS LOST. THE TOPS OF THE CLOUDS IN THE AREA OF THE ACCIDENT WERE REPORTED TO BE AT 18,000 FEET. A PILOT WHO WAS FLYING IN THE AREA OF THE ACCIDENT SITE AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT STATED THAT THE CLOUD TOPS OF 'THE BUILDUPS' WERE FROM 16,000 TO 20,000 FEET. THE PILOT ADDITIONALLY STATED THAT MODERATE UNEXPECTED TURBULENCE WAS ENCOUNTERED AND 'OBVIOUSLY, THE UPDRAFTS IN THE AREA WERE VERY STRONG.' SATELLITE IMAGERY DATA REVEALED THAT AN EAST-WEST CLOUD BAND, ABOUT 10 MILES WIDE, WAS LOCATED IN THE AREA OF THE ACCIDENT. THE GROUND TRACK OF THE AIRPLANE WAS TRAVERSING THE CLOUD BAND DURING THE MINUTES PRIOR TO AND AROUND THE ACCIDENT TIME. THE ONBOARD WEATHER RADAR WAS FOUND IN THE OFF POSITION. ACCORDING TO ADVISORY CIRCULAR -00-6A, 'DO AVOID BY AT LEAST 20 MILES ANY THUNDERSTORM IDENTIFIED AS SEVERE OR GIVING AN INTENSE RADAR ECHO. DO CLEAR THE TOP OF A KNOWN OR SUSPECTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM BY AT LEAST 1,000 FEET ALTITUDE FOR EACH 10 KNOTS OF WIND SPEED AT THE CLOUD TOP.' THE AIRPLANES CALIBRATED AIRSPEED (KCAS) WAS CALCULATED AT 141 KNOTS, AND THE INDICATED AIRSPEED (KIAS) WAS 139 KNOTS. ACCORDING TO THE POH, THE MANEUVERING SPEED AT GROSS WEIGHT WAS 135 KCAS AND 133 KIAS. ## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB IAD98FA106](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/IAD98FA106), Sep 7, 1998: Piper PA-46-350P (N9150X), Centerville, NY, destroyed, 5 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's inadvertent flight into adverse weather conditions. Factors related to the accident were the pilot's failure to use weather detection equipment and use of airspeeds in excess of… ## Other reports on N9150X (2) Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date. - [Incident 19931208051599I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19931208051599I), Dec 8, 1993: Piper PA46310P (N9150X), Springdale, AR. Lost of manifold pressure. Smoke in cockpit. Diverted to Springdale. Landed safely. Turobcharger system failure. - [Accident 19900108000309A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19900108000309A), Jan 8, 1990: Piper PA46350P (N9150X), Van Nuys, CA, Substantial damage. Slow on approach due to traffic on runway. Stalled on short final dropping to runway. Impact damaged wings. From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.