- Date
- August 23, 1985, 21:55 local (Aug 24, 1985, 01:55 UTC)
- Place
- Flat Rock, NC
- Injuries
- 5 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N600CMPiper PA-31T
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850823040109A
- Case key
- 6635
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
Acft hit northwest side of ridge in level attitude,cruise speed,heading southeast. Conditions were dark night and the cloud ceiling was about 40 feet above the ridge. Pilot received wx brief before take off and en route which reported a ceiling of 10,000 feet at destination. Acft was flown at 17,500 feet en route.PIC radioed gsp approach control. Said he was VFR for landing,passing 6000 feet. Two way comm not established but discrete TX code assigned. Controller saw TX code change nw of crash site then radar target disappeared at accident site.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N600CM
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31T
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31T7720024
- Airframe hours
- 4,077
- Engine
- P&W PT-6A-28, 715 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Hubert Van Pittman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 21, 1985 · 53 hours before
- Departed
- LOU · Louisville, KY
- Destination
- GSP · Greer, SC
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, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,700 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 130° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- AVL, 12 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.