Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Rochester Municiple Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rochester, Minnesota 55902
Thursday, December 22, 1994 11:52 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE AIRPLANE DEPARTED ON RUNWAY 31 IN INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC) AND TURNED RIGHT TO A HEADING OF 090 DEGREES. RADAR CONTACT (ARTS TAG) WAS ACQUIRED ABOUT 1 TO 2 MILES NORTH OF THE AIRPORT. REPORTEDLY, THE ARTS TAG WOULD TYPICALLY BE ACQUIRED AS THE AIRPLANE CLIMBED THROUGH AN ALTITUDE OF ABOUT 700 FEET AGL. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE AIRPLANE CRASHED ABOUT 2 MILES NORTH OF THE AIRPORT. A WITNESS REPORTED HEARING A LOUD ENGINE NOISE BEFORE THE PLANE CRASHED. THE WRECKAGE PATH WAS ORIENTED ALONG A WESTERLY HEADING AND OVER AN AREA OF ABOUT 380 FEET. THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF AN IN-FLIGHT BREAKUP. AN OUTBOARD PORTION OF THE RIGHT WING WAS FOUND ABOUT 150 FEET FROM THE MAIN IMPACT CRATER. AN EXAMINATION REVEALED THE RIGHT WING HAD FAILED NEAR THE PRODUCTION SEAM. THE RIGHT SPAR EXHIBITED FEATURES 'TYPICAL OF AN UPWARD BENDING OVERSTRESS SEPARATION.' EXAMINATION REVEALED NO OTHER EVIDENCE OF PREIMPACT AIRCRAFT OR ENGINE MALFUNCTION. THE AIRPLANE'S GROSS WEIGHT WAS ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT 4696 POUNDS; ITS MAX LIMIT WAS 4300 POUNDS. THE PILOT'S LOGBOOK INDICATED THAT HE HAD FLOWN ONLY 2 INSTRUMENT APPROACHES IN THE PREVIOUS 14 MONTHS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE, WHILE CLIMBING IN INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC) AFTER TAKEOFF. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: FOG, LOW CEILING, THE PILOT'S LACK OF RECENT INSTRUMENT EXPERIENCE, AND THE EXCESSIVE GROSS WEIGHT OF THE AIRPLANE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/22/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1152 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | ROCHESTER |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55902 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ROCHESTER MUNICIPLE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RST |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | 1317 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1150 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RST |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1317 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1300 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1929 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 22 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 12:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N133MA |
| NTSB Number | CHI95FA061 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-46-350P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-46-350P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4622133 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 20 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 26 |
| Airframe Hours | 106 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RYDERS REPLICA FIGHTER MUSEUM |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 366 |
| Aircraft Owner City | GUNTERSVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 35976 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 8A1 |
| Destination City | GUNTERSVILLE |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - uncontrolled |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 7533 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |