# Accident 20000830040139A: Piper PA24250, Lexington, VA, August 30, 2000 - Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: August 30, 2000, 17:30 local time - Place: Lexington, VA - Damage: Destroyed - Phase of flight: Normal Cruise - Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91) - Location: 37.7793° N, 79.4396° W: From the FAA, an estimate near the named town, within about 3 miles - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=37.7793&lon=-79.4396&mi=10 - Aircraft: N6411P, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N6411P-2014-12-22) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry model: Piper PA-24-250 (registry code 7102404, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-24-250) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: Lycoming 0-540 series (registry code 41532, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-540-series) (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: PIPER PA24250 - Reported engine: LYC O540* - People aboard: 2 - Fatal injuries: 2 - Pilot flight hours: 400 total, 270 in this make and model - NTSB investigation: [NTSB NYC00FA245](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC00FA245) (OpenAirDocs) - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20000830040139A ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. (.4)ON AUGUST 30, 2000, ABOUT 1730 EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME, A PIPER PA-24-250, N6411P, WAS DESTROYED DURING AN IN-FLIGHT BREAK-UP AND COLLISION WITH THE GROUND IN LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA. THE CERTIFICATED PRIVATE PILOT AND PASSENGER WERE FATALLY INJURED. MARGINAL VISUAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS PREVAILED AND NO FLIGHT PLAN HAD BEEN FILED FOR THE PERSONAL FLIGHT THAT DEPARTED THE EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA REGIONAL/SHEPHERD AIRPORT (MRB), MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA, DESTINED FOR THE COLUMBIA METROPOLITAN AIRPORT (CAE), COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA. THE FLIGHT WAS CONDUCTED UNDER 14 CFR PART 91. ACCORDING TO THE PILOT'S BROTHER-IN-LAW, THE AIRPLANE WAS BASED AT REPUBLIC AIRPORT (FRG), FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK. THE PILOT DEPARTED FRG ABOUT 1400, WITH THE INTENT OF VISITING FAMILY MEMBERS WHO LIVED IN BOCA RATON, FLORIDA. HE DID NOT KNOW THE PILOT'S PROPOSED ROUTE OF FLIGHT. ACCORDING TO AN AIRFRAME AND POWERPLANT MECHANIC WHO WAS BASED AT THE SPRUCE CREEK AIRPORT, DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA, THE PILOT HAD CALLED HIM ABOUT 1 WEEK BEFORE THE ACCIDENT TO SCHEDULE AN ANNUAL INSPECTION FOR THE AIRPLANE, TO BE CONDUCTED DURING THE PILOT'S STAY IN FLORIDA. AT THAT TIME, THE PILOT INFORMED HIM THAT THE AIRPLANE'S ANNUAL INSPECTION HAD EXPIRED. THE MECHANIC INFORMED THE PILOT THAT HE WOULD NEED TO OBTAIN A FERRY PERMIT, AND HE REPLIED HE WOULD "TAKE CARE OF THAT." THE NEXT TIME THE MECHANIC SPOKE TO THE PILOT WAS ON THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT, ABOUT 1345, WHEN THE PILOT CALLED TO TELL HIM THAT HE WAS "ON HIS WAY." ACCORDING TO A TRANSCRIPT PROVIDED BY THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA), AT 1722:52, THE PILOT OF N6411P CONTACTED THE ROANOKE AIRPORT AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER. THE PILOT RECEIVED THE CURRENT LYNCHBURG AIRPORT ALTIMETER SETTING AND REPLIED, "ALTITUDE NINETY TWO GOING BACK DOWN TO EIGHTY FIVE." THERE WERE NO FURTHER TRANSMISSIONS FROM THE AIRPLANE. RADAR DATA OBTAINED FROM THE FAA REVEALED THE AIRPLANE WAS TRAVELING SOUTHWEST AND WAS LEVEL AT 8,700 FEET, WHEN IT MADE A RIGHT TURN AT 1727:42. THE AIRPLANE CONTINUED TO THE RIGHT AND AT 1727:47, THE AIRPLANE'S ALTITUDE INDICATED 8,500 FEET. THE AIRPLANE DESCENDED TO 8,300 FEET AT 1727:51, AND 5,300 FEET AT 1728:05. THERE WERE NO FURTHER RADAR RETURNS OBSERVED FROM THE AIRPLANE. A WITNESS NEAR THE ACCIDENT SITE STATED HE SUDDENLY HEARD AN ENGINE NOISE FROM AN AIRPLANE, AND IT WAS "REVVING REAL LOUD." HE FURTHER STATED: "THE PLANECAME OUT OF THE CLOUDS STILL INTACT, AND IT WAS SPIRALING DOWN. THE LEFT W ING AT THE TAIL BROKE OFF FIRST AND THEN IT JUST STARTED BREAKING UP. IT WAS CORKSCREWING TOWARD THE GROUND AND I LOST SITE OF IT AS IT WENT BEHIND THE TREES." ANOTHER WITNESS WHO OBSERVED THE AIRPLANE STATED THAT HE HEARD A "WHISTLING" SOUND, LOOKED UP, AND HEARD A LOUD EXPLOSION, WHICH WAS FOLLOWED BY "PARTS FALLING EVERYWHERE." THE AIRPLANE THEN MADE A NOSEDIVE AND CORKSCREWED TO THE RIGHT. HE STATED THE AIRPLANE WAS TRAVELING AT A "TREMENDOUS SPEED." SEVERAL WITNESSES REPORTED THEY LOOKED UP AND OBSERVED AN AIRPLANE SPINNING AND/OR "BREAKING APART" BEFORE THEY LOST SIGHT OF IT. THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED DURING THE HOURS OF DAYLIGHT APPROXIMATELY 37 DEGREES, 47 MINUTES NORTH LATITUDE, AND 79 DEGREES, 26 MINUTES WEST LONGITUDE. (-23) AIRCRAFT BROKE-UP INFLIGHT AND CRASHED DOWNTOWN LEXINGTON, VA, 17:35 LCL, WHILE ENROUTE FROM MARTINSBURG, WV, TO COLUMBIA, SC. BOTH THE PILOT AND THE PASSENGER SUFFERED FATAL INJURIES. AT APPROXIMATELY 17:23 LCL, THE PILOT CONTACTED THE ROANOKE (ROA), VA, CONTROL TOWER, AND WAS GIVEN THE CURRENT LYNCHBURG (LYH) ALTIMETER SETTING. THE PILOT STATED THAT HIS ALTITUDE WA S 9200 FT, AND THAT HE WAS DESCENDING BACK TO 8500 FT. THERE WERE NO FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE AIRCRAFT. RADAR RECORDS SHOW THE AIRCRAFT TRAVELING IN A SOUTHWESTERLY HEADING, LEVEL AT 8700 FT. AT 17:27:42, A RIGHT TURN WAS INITIATED, AND CONTINUED THROUGH 17:27:51, AT WHICH TIME THE ALTITUDE WAS 8300 FT, AND 5300 FT 14 SECONDS LATER, AT 17:28:05. NO FURTHER RADAR RETURNS WERE RECEIVED FROM THE AIRCRAFT. NO FLIGHT PLAN HAD BEEN FILED FOR THIS FLIGHT. THE LEXINGTON WEATHER (REPORTING STATION LYH, 35 MILES AWAY), AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT, WAS SCATTERED CLOUDS AT 1500 FT, BROKEN AT 5000 FT, LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN. THERE WERE NO REPORTS OF TURBULENCE OR CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY. SEVERAL WITNESSES ON THE GROUND REPORTED HEARING A HIGH PITCH, FAST REVVING ENGINE NOISE, AND SEEING THE AIRCRAFT COMING OUT OF THE CLOUDS, STILL INTACT, AND IN A SPIRAL. THEN, THE RIGHT WING AND TAIL WERE SEEN SEPARATING FROM THE AIRCRAFT, WITH AN "EXPLOSION LIKE" SOUND. ONE OCCUPANT WAS THEN SEEN BEING THROWN FROM THE AIRCRAFT, AS IT CONTINUED TO SPIRAL UNTIL IT IMPACTED THE GROUND. THE FUSELAGE, ENGINE, LEFT WING AND PORTIONS OF THE TAIL IMPACTED DOWNTOWN, IN THE HISTORIC DISTRICT, AT 201 W. WASHINGTON STREET, WITH THE PILOT STILL ON BOARD. THE AIRCRAFT WAS INVERTED, AND ORIENTED APPROXIMATELY ON A BEARING OF APPROXIMATELY 230 DEGREES. THE RIGHT WING, RIGHT AILERON, RIGHT TIP TANK, VERTICAL STABILIZER, RUDDER, OUTBOARD SECTIONS (LEFT AND RIGHT) OF THE STABILATOR, CABIN TOP, AND OTHER ASSORTED PIECES AND PERSONAL BELONGINGS WERE FOUND SCATTERED WITHIN A HALF MILE OF THE MAIN WRECKAGE. THE OCCUPANT THAT HAD BEEN SEEN BEING THROWN FROM THE AIRCRAFT IMPACTED THE GROUND ON A PRIVATE DRIVE LEADING TO THE WASHINGTON & LEE COLLEGE FRATERNITY HOUSES. DUE TO THE TOTAL AND COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF THE AIRCRAFT AND THE OBVIOUS BIOHAZARD, THE WRECKAGE WAS REMOVED TO A LARGE EMPTY HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT WAREHOUSE IN THE TOWN OF BUENA VISTA FOR FURTHER EXAMINATION. THE REMAINS OF THE TWO OCCUPANTS WERE TAKEN TO THE MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE IN ROANOKE, VA. AN ANALYSIS OF THE WRECKAGE, AT THE WAREHOUSE, REVEALED THE FOLLOWING: 1-FLIGHT CONTROL CONTINUTY COULD NOT BE ESTABLISHED, BECAUSE OF THE MASSIVE DESTRUCTION CAUSED BY THE CRASH. 2-THE RIGHT WING INBOARD SECTION WAS STILL ATTACHED AT THE SPAR SPLICE, AND EXTENDED OUTBOARD BY 5 FT, 10 IN. THE REMAINDER OF THE WING HAD SEPARATED IN FLIGHT, FAILING INAN UPWARD MODE, AND BENDING THE MAIN SPAR UPPER CAP BY 110 DEGREES AND 30 DEGREES AFT, BEFORE SEPARATING. BOTH THE UPPER AND LOWER SPAR CAPS HAD BEEN PULLED AWAY FROM THE MAIN SPAR WEB. THE WING ALSO DISPLAYED SEVERE IMPACT DAMAGE. 3-THE RIGHT TIP TANK HAD SEPARATED FROM THE WING, AND SHOWED IMPACT DAMAGE FROM HITTING THE RUDDER/VERTICAL STAB, AND RIGHT SIDE STABILATOR. 4-THE RUDDER/VERTICAL STAB (FOUND AS ONE UNIT, AWAY FROM THE MAIN WRECKAGE) AND THE OUTBOARD 4 FT SECTION OF THE RIGHT STABILATOR SHOWED IMPACT DAMAGE AND PAINT TRANSFER MATCHING THE RIGHT TIP TANK. THE RIGHT STABILATOR MAIN SPAR HAD FAILED DOWNWARD AND AFT. I BELIEVE THAT THE RIGHT WING AND TIP TANK ASSEMBLY, ONCE SEPARATED FROM THE AIRCRAFT, THEN HIT THE VERTICAL STAB AND RUDDER, AND THEN THE RIGHT STABILATOR, WITH THE TIP TANK, CAUSING THE EMPENNAGE SECTIONS TO SEPARATE. THEN, THE RIGHT TIP TANK ITSELF SEPARATED FROM THE WING. 5-THE OUTBOARD 3 FT OF THE LEFT STABILATOR HAD ALSO SEPARATED IN FLIGHT, PROBABLY DUE TO AERODYNAMIC LOADS. 6-THE ENGINE ITSELF SUSTAINED VERY SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE, AND HAD BEEN LOCATED IN A 5-FT DEEP HOLE, THROUGH THE CONCRETE SIDEWALK. THE CRANKCASE WAS BROKEN IN SEVERAL PLACES. THE #1 AND #3 CYLINDER HEADS WERE SEPARATED, AND THE #5 CYLINDER WAS SEPARATED AT THE MOUNTING FLANGE. 7-THE PROPELLER HUB WAS NOT LOCATED, HOWEVER, BOTH PROPELLER BLADES HAD SEPARATED AND WERE RECOVERED. ONE BLADE HAD VERY DEEP CORDWISE GOUGES, AND ITS LEADING EDGE WAS CURLING BACK UPON ITSELF WITH APPROXIMATELY 2 IN. OF THE BLADE TIP MISSING. THE OTHER BLADE DISPLAYED PRONOUNCED "S" BENDING WITH THE OUTBOARD PORTION OF THE BLADE CURLED BACK MORE THAN 90 DEGREES. 8-EIGHT RECOVERED SPARK PLUGS WERE NORMAL IN APPEARANCE. 9-BOTH MAGNETOS WERE RECOVERED. THEY HAD SEPARATED FROM THE ENGINE AND WERE DAMAGED. THE RIGHT MAG COULD NOT BE ROTATED, AND THE LEFT ONE, EVEN THOUGH IT COULD STILL BE ROTATED, WOULD NO LONGER PRODUCE A SPARK. 10-THE OIL SUMP SUCTION SCREEN AND THE PRESSURE SCREEN WERE FREE OF DEBRIS OR CONTAMINATION. 11-THE CARBURETOR COULD NOT BE LOCATED AND THEREFORE WAS NOT RECOVERED. 12-THE VACUUM PUMP, A "WET" UNIT, HAD AN INTACT DRIVE COUPLING AND ROTATED FREELY. AN INTERNAL INSPECTION REVEALED NO PROBLEMS. 13-DUE TO THE COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF THE COCKPIT, NONE OF THE INSTRUMENTS COULD BE IDENTIFIED AND ANALYZED IN ANY DETAIL. HOWEVER, ONE AIR-DRIVEN INSTRUMENT GYROSCOPIC ROTOR WAS LOCATED AMIDST THE WRECKAGE, AND IT SHOWED SEVERE RADIAL SCORING FROM SUDDEN STOPPAGE FROM A HIGH RATE OF ROTATION. 14-A PARTIAL REVIEW OF THE MAINTENANCE RECORDS (THE ENGINE MAINTENANCE LOG WAS RECOVERED FROM THE WRECKAGE) SHOWED THAT THE LAST ANNUAL HAD BEEN PERFORMED IN JULY 1999. ALSO, ACCORDING TO A MAINTENANCE FACILITY IN DAYTONA BEACH, FL, THE FLIGHT'S FINAL DESTINATION, THE PILOT HAD CONTACTED THEM TO INFORM THEM THAT HE WOULD BE BRINGING THE AIRCRAFT DOWN FOR AN ANNUAL INSPECTION. HE HAD ALSO CALLED THE SHOP, ON THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT, TO LET THEM KNOW HE WAS ON THE WAY. 15-THE AIRCRAFT (AIRFRAME) APPEARED TO HAVE BEEN WELL MAINTAINED AND PRESERVED WITH NO SIGNS OF CORROSION, CRACKS, SMOKING RIVETS, OR RUSTED FITTINGS AND HARDWARE. IMC CONDITIONS PREVAILED AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. THE PILOT WAS NOT INSTRUMENT RATED AND HAD REPORTED A TOTAL OF 560 HOURS OF FLYING EXPERIENCE AT THE TIME OF HIS LAST MEDICAL ON 4/4/2000. A REVIEW OF THE REMAINS OF THE PILOT'S LOGBOOK, FOUND IN THE WRECKAGE, REVEALED A TOTAL OF APPROXIMATELY 370 HOURS LOGGED IN THIS PARTICULAR AIRCRAFT TYPE. IT ALSO SHOWED HE HAD RECEIVED SOME INSTRUMENT FLIGHT INSTRUCTION SOON AFTER HE RECEIVED HIS PRIVATE PILOT CERTIFICATE IN 1986. ## 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 NYC00FA245](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC00FA245), Aug 30, 2000: Piper PA-24-250 (N6411P), Lexington, VA, destroyed, 2 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's attempted VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions that resulted in spatial disorientation. A factor in this accident was the pilot's inadequate preflight planning. 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.