Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Defiance, Ohio 43512
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 10:33 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was in cruise flight about 7,000 feet mean sea level (msl). At 1032:27, air traffic control (ATC) instructed the pilot to descend from 7,000 feet to 3,000 feet msl, and the pilot acknowledged the descent instructions. ATC's last radar contact with the airplane was at 1032:53, and the airplane's altitude was about 6,500 feet msl. The pilot made no distress call and he did not indicate that the airplane was experiencing any mechanical difficulty. Witnesses reported hearing the airplane when it was in the clouds for about a minute with the sound of the engine getting louder and louder. When it descended out of the clouds, the airplane was in about a 45-degree nose down attitude and spinning rapidly. The oscillating engine noise grew increasingly louder as it descended, and it appeared that the airplane was missing part of one of its wings. The airplane suddenly nosed straight down and impacted the ground in a steep, nose down attitude. The left wing's fracture surfaces were consistent with an overstress fracture. The inspection of the airplane revealed no deficiencies that would have precluded normal operation. Weather radar depicted a narrow line of echoes in the vicinity of the accident site. A band of cumulus clouds was over or in the immediate vicinity of the accident site at the time of the accident with cumulonimbus type clouds to the west and southwest of the accident site. The weather radar spectrum width depicted an area of shear between 12 to 24 knots along the last known position of the accident airplane and the accident site. It indicated significant wind velocities and turbulence along the flight track.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's spatial disorientation when he encountered convective turbulence which resulted in a loss of control. This encounter resulted in an in-flight break up. Contributing to the accident was the convective turbulence in the clouds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/26/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1033 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Defiance |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 43512 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 411543N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0842829W |
| 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 | 1011 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DFI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | -- |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24253 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 26 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 26 2008 6:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA Columbus, Ohio FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8341G |
| NTSB Number | CHI07FA305 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32R-301T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-8129046 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 27 |
| Airframe Hours | 3720 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Paul E. Harris |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 545 Meadowview Dr |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wauconda |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60084 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Paul E. Harris |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 545 Meadowview Dr. |
| Operator City | Wauconda |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 60084 |
| 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 | C81 |
| Departure City | Grayslake |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 912 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FDY |
| Destination City | Findlay |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 8 2008 5:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |