Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Stuart, Florida 34996
Friday, February 7, 2014 19:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On February 7, 2014, about 1930 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-28-161, N2571U, was lost and presumed destroyed while flying over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Stuart, Florida. The private pilot was not recovered and presumed fatally injured. Night instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight that originated from The Florida Keys Marathon Airport (MTH), about 1730, and was destined for Vero Beach Municipal Airport (VRB), Vero Beach, Florida. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
According to the airplane's owner/operator, the pilot had rented the airplane for the period of one week, while he visited the United States from Europe. On the day of the accident, the pilot had flown the airplane from VRB to MTH. Review of fueling receipts from MTH showed that the pilot serviced the airplane with 16 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel at 1717, prior to departing for VRB.
According to preliminary air traffic control (ATC) radar and voice communication information provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, after departing from MTH, the pilot contacted ATC and requested visual flight rules flight following services, with a stated destination of VRB. The airplane then flew north, following the eastern Florida coastline. Shortly after passing West Palm Beach, Florida, the pilot was advised that IMC prevailed at VRB. The pilot then declared that he intended to divert to St Lucie County International Airport (FPR), Fort Pierce, Florida. The airplane was about 4 nautical miles south of Witham Field (SUA), Stuart, Florida, when the pilot contacted Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center for further flight following services. ATC advised that radar coverage was not available at the airplane's altitude of 450 feet, and the pilot acknowledged the transmission. No further transmissions were received from the pilot, and no further radar targets were observed.
On February 8, the operator reported the airplane missing, and an alert notice was subsequently issued at 1639. Over the following days, debris correlated to the accident airplane and personal effects belonging to the pilot were recovered from several beaches in the vicinity of Stuart, Florida. No substantial wreckage was recovered as of this writing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/7/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Stuart |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34996 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 271005N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0800833W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| 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 | 1847 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 281 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSUA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 18 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 700 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KSUA 072347Z 05010KT 7SM BKN007 20/18 A3012 |
| 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 |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern CROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 19 2014 4:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2571U |
| NTSB Number | ERA14LA117 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-161 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8016037 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FISHE FLYING CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8515 DE HAVILAND CT |
| Aircraft Owner City | VERO BEACH |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 329689519 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | FISHE FLYING CORP |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 8515 DE HAVILAND CT |
| Operator City | VERO BEACH |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 329689519 |
| 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 | MTH |
| Departure City | Marathon |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VRB |
| Destination City | Vero Beach |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 19 2014 4:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |