CEN25LA049

NTSB accident investigation · Piper PA-28-140 · Camdenton, MO · November 24, 2024

Accident · Serious injuriesClass 4 · LimitedFinal report
Date
November 24, 2024, 05:33 local (11:33 UTC)
Place
Camdenton, MO
Injuries
1 serious
Damage
Substantial damage
Phase of flight
Maneuvering
Aircraft
N6575WPiper PA-28-140
Defining event
Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Miscellaneous/other
Weather
Visual (VMC) · Night
Status
Completed
Report
Approved by Office Director
Investigation class
Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
NTSB office
Central Region
Parties
FAA
FAA report
20241124021439A
Case key
195544

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

The pilot’s poor flight planning which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.

Findings · 3

NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.

Personality/attitude: personalityPersonnel issues › Psychological · PilotPiper PA-28-140: 1 caseAll aircraft: 8 casesProbable cause
Personnel issuesPersonnel issues › Miscellaneous · PilotPiper PA-28-140: 1 caseAll aircraft: 29 casesProbable cause

Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.

Analysis

Law enforcement officers reported, that the pilot of the accident airplane stated that he intended to intentionally crash his airplane after dropping a pillow onto his wife’s house. The pilot demanded that his wife speak to him before he initiated his takeoff. Law enforcement officers reported that they were in intermittent contact through phone calls and text messaging throughout the 4-hour flight. The pilot stated to law enforcement officials that he was flying while intoxicated and that he was not confident in his ability to land due to his level of intoxication. At one point, the pilot agreed to land at a local airport. During the descent he aimed the airplane towards law enforcement officers and flew over them at a low altitude while yelling, “wee woo, wee woo” out of the side vent window before initiating a climb. The pilot continued to refuse to land until he was able to speak with his wife and later crashed northwest of the local airport. The airplane impacted trees and came to rest on its nose which resulted in substantial damage to both wings, fuselage, horizontal stabilator, and the lower engine compartment. The pilot, who was seriously injured, fled the accident site before surrendering himself to local law enforcement officers. Law enforcement officers observed an empty six pack container of alcohol and one unopened bottle of alcohol on the ground under the airplane. Inside the airplane, on the floor near the rudder pedals, there were two empty bottles of alcohol. Upon inspection of the wing fuel tanks, the left wing tank was empty and had no observable fuel in it. The right wing tank had an occasional drip from where it was ruptured. There was no observable fuel blight on nearby vegetation and no fuel dye stains present on any of the aircraft surfaces. The pilot reported that he was attempting to land when he lost complete engine power due to carburetor icing and impacted trees short of the runway. He stated that he departed with full fuel, and that it would have given him 7 or 8 hours of flight time. He did not provide an NTSB Form 6120.1 Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report. When comparing the reported weather around the time of the accident to FAA special Airworthiness Information Bulletin, CE-09-35 Carburetor Icing Prevention, the flight environment was within the range for icing conditions for pressure-type carburetors.

Aircraft

Registration
N6575W
Reported as
Piper PA-28-140
Category
Airplane
Serial number
28-20656
Built
1965
Engine
Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
Damage
Substantial damage
Flight
Personal · Part 91
Airworthiness certificate
Standard, Normal; Standard, Utility
Departed
M17 · Bolivar, MO
Destination
OZS · Camdenton, MO
Airport
OZS · Camdenton Memorial-Lake Regional Airport
Equipment
Unknown

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
Injuries
Serious
Certificates
Student, Sport Pilot
Medical
Class 3, With waivers/limitations

Weather

Conditions
Visual (VMC) · Night
Wind
160° at 7 knots
Visibility
10 statute miles
Lowest ceiling
None
Temperature
48 °F, dew point 37 °F
Altimeter
29.85 inHg
Icing
Unknown
Turbulence
Unknown
Observed at
KAIZ, 10 nm away
METAR
METAR KAIZ 241156Z 16007KT 10SM CLR 09/03 A2985 RMK AO2 SLP108 T00890033 10094 20083 56018=

Docket · 4

The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 21, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.9 MB in all.

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 N6575W · 2

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.