Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atlantic Ocean
Saturday, April 21, 2007 9:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-instrument rated pilot received a weather briefing 30-minutes prior to departure, in which he was informed that the remains of a low pressure system was in the area of the Northern Bahamas and that some showers associated with the remains were present along the coast of Florida. The weather was moving to the south and that locally there were some heavy weather returns, generally 10 miles or less. The flight departed and the pilot was instructed to maintain visual flight rules conditions. When cleared to climb to his cruising altitude the pilot stated that he was going to stay around 2,500 feet for he had some weather in front of him. The pilot was told to contact another controller and when contact was made, the pilot reported he was at 4,000 feet, climbing to his cruise altitude. No further transmissions were received from the pilot and shortly thereafter the flight was lost from radar contact. Air traffic control radar data overlaid with weather radar data showed the flight entered a line of weather containing Video Integrator Processor Level 4 thunderstorms just prior to being lost from radar. A debris field was located on the ocean by a Coast Guard helicopter about 95 minutes after the accident. The field contained aircraft and human remains and a jacket being carried by one of the airplanes occupants was recovered.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's continued visual flight rules flight into known adverse weather conditions, resulting in an in-flight loss of aircraft control. Contributing to the accident were thunderstorms.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/21/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 910 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Atlantic Ocean |
| Event State | ATLANTIC OCEAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 260602N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0794545W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KFLL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 13 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 5 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23816 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 21 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2008 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | South Florida FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4TR |
| NTSB Number | MIA07LA084 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-23-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 27-3111 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 150 |
| Airframe Hours | 3544 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Glen A. Quackenbush |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5780 SW 7th Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Plantation |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33317 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KFXE |
| Departure City | Fort Lauderdale |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 857 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MYAF |
| Destination City | Andros Island |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | BF |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 16 2008 10:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |