- Date
- August 18, 1990, 22:00 local (Aug 19, 1990, 03:00 UTC)
- Place
- Watertown, WI
- Injuries
- 7 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N4070QPiper PA-32R-300
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900818033879A
- Case key
- 14548
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
Initiation of VFR flight into adverse weather and instrument meteorologial conditions. Factors which contributed to the accident were the adverse weather conditions and the pilot's self-induced pressure to maintain currency.
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 airplane collided with terrain approx 1/2 mi south of the departure airport after a night takeoff. A police officer observed the airplane taxi to the runway; he did not see the airplane take off. He described the weather conditions at the time as heavy rain with lightning and thunder, and high winds. A passenger in an automobile on a highway 1500 ft west of the accident site reported what she thought to be a 'shooting star'. She stated they were driving slower than normal because of heavy rain. The pilot stated to family members that he had to fly and do three takeoffs and landings before midnight or he would lose his license. His last flight was 92 days (exactly 3 calendar months) before the accident flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4070Q
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32R-300
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32R-7780325
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K1G5D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Wisconsin Aviation Inc
- Airport
- RYV · Watertown Muni, runway 23, 3,965 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 31
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 212 total · 8 in this make and model · 123 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.