- Date
- May 11, 1993, 23:45 local (May 12, 1993, 03:45 UTC)
- Place
- Lyburn, WV
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N45087Piper PA-32-300
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed · report December 3, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930511013279A
- Case key
- 11873
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Failure of the pilot to attain sufficient altitude to remain clear of rising terrain and objects. Factors related to the accident were darkness and rising terrain.
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
Shortly after takeoff at about 2345 eastern daylight time, the airplane struck a static wire and collided with terrain at an elevation of 1,900 feet mean sea level. The power company reported that the position of the static wire is about 280 feet above the terrain at an altitude of 1,690 feet mean sea level. The accident site was located about 1.2 miles from the airport. The departed airport's elevation was 730 feet mean sea level. The airplane was destroyed by post impact fire. No airframe or engine anomalies were noted. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of accident and patches of ground fog were reported around the area. The commercial pilot's log book was not recovered.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N45087
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-300
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-7940247
- Airframe hours
- 1,178
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K1A5, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- William M. Charles
- Registered owner
- W. Newberry/T. Osborne
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Destination
- 6L4 · Logan County, WV
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
- 47
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 170° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BKW, 30 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.