- Date
- January 15, 1984, 19:30 local (Jan 16, 1984, 01:30 UTC)
- Place
- Attalla, AL
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N31844Piper PA-32RT-300
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840115001409A
- Case key
- 6247
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
During a VOR approach to land in IMC wx, the acft collided with a tree. The non-instrument rated plt had filed an IFR flt plan on this and other occasions even though he was not qualified. During this approach, the descent was continued past the mda of 960 ft. field elevation was 569 ft. no malfunctions of equipment or physical discrepancies were found during the investigation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N31844
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32RT-300 (PA-32RT-30)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32RT7885132
- Airframe hours
- 996
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K165D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Enterprise Industrial Sales
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 14, 1983 · 81 hours before
- Departed
- Fort Myers, FL
- Flight plan
- IFR
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,216 total · 65 in the last 90 days · 21 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Lowest ceiling
- 100 ft
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GAD, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N31844 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.