No Distress Call Or Declaration Of Emergency Made From Accident Airplane

The NTSB has released a preliminary report from an accident which occurred in Tifton, GA October 18. The pilot of the Piper Cherokee, the only person on board the airplane, was fatally injured in the accident.

According to the report, on October 18, 2013, about 1010 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28R-180, N11ML, operated by a private individual, was destroyed during impact with terrain, following a loss of control in cruise flight near Tifton, Georgia. The private pilot was fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight that departed Merritt Island Airport (COI), Merritt Island, Florida, about 0750; destined for LaGrange-Callaway Airport (LGC), LaGrange, Georgia. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

According to preliminary information from the FAA, the flight was in radio and radar contact with Jacksonville Center while in cruise flight at 6,500 feet. The airplane descended from 6,500 feet to 4,500 feet between 1007 and 1008, before radar and radio contact was lost. No distress calls or further communications were received from the accident airplane. A witness, who lived near the accident site, observed the airplane level as it flew over his house very fast, but then went straight down and impacted a field next to his property. He added that the clouds were low at the time and the engine noise was very loud.
 
The wreckage came to rest upright, was fragmented, and on a heading about 270 degrees magnetic. An approximate 75-foot debris path was observed, on a heading about 090-degrees, beginning with the engine and ending at the empennage. A fuel odor was noted and browning of vegetation was observed throughout the entire debris path. The engine, separated propeller, and instrument panel were buried in an approximate 6-foot wide, by 6-foot long, by 3-foot deep impact crater.
 
Henry Tift Myers Airport (TMA), Tifton, Georgia, was located about 11 miles southeast of the accident site. Fitzgerald Municipal Airport (FZG), Fitzgerald, Georgia, was located about 18 miles northeast of the accident site. The recorded weather at TMA, at 1015, was: wind calm; visibility 1.5 miles in light drizzle; temperature 21 degrees C; dew point 21 degrees C; altimeter 30.01 inches Hg. TMA did not record a ceiling; however, the recorded ceiling at FZG, at 1015, was overcast at 400 feet.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov