- Date
- November 17, 1986, 00:15 local (05:15 UTC)
- Place
- Danville, VA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N43905Piper PA-28-161
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19861117087269A
- Case key
- 11278
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
The aircraft was observed flying around the airport as the weather deteriorated. The pilot had elected to depart at about 2345 EST after obtaining a weather briefing 6 & 1/2 hours before. The plt had a total of about 83 hours flying time and did not have any instrument time logged in his logbook since obtaining his private plt certificate over a year prior to this accident. Witnesses saw the acft disappear in and out of fog. The acft collided with trees in a right wing low, right turn before coming to rest next to an abandonded house within 1,000 ft of a rwy.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N43905
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-161
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 288516043
- Airframe hours
- 458
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-D3G, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- General Aviation Inc.
- Registered owner
- General Aviation Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 30, 1986 · 20 hours before
- Airport
- DAN · Danville Municipal
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
- 33
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 83 total · 13 in this make and model · 58 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.