Investigation Ongoing

The 79-year-old male pilot of a 2006 Piper Meridian (PA-46TP) suffered an in-flight medical emergency on Saturday, 15 July 2023. The situation compelled his 68-year-old, female, non-pilot passenger to take control of the aircraft, which she “crash-landed”—without benefit of extended landing gear—at Massachusetts’s Martha’s Vineyard Airport (MVY).

The woman suffered minor injuries, was evaluated at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, and promptly released. The man was extracted from the wreckage and flown to a Boston hospital in critical condition.

The six-seat, single-turboprop-engine aircraft was badly damaged—its port-side wing having broken off on impact with the ground.

The Meridian departed New York’s Westchester County Airport (HPN) in the early afternoon. The accident occurred at approximately 15:15 EDT.

MVY Runway 6-24, the airport’s primary commercial runway, was closed for over two-hours as the accident-aircraft’s wreckage was cleared.

In accordance with Federal Aviation Regulations, what remained of the PA-46TP was transported to a secure location for evaluation by NTSB and FAA investigators.

Eerily, the mishap occurred only one-day prior to the 24th anniversary of the infamously tragic 1999 accident in which John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn Bessette, and sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette perished when the Piper Saratoga (PA-32R) then being flown by JFK Jr. plunged into the waters off Martha’s Vineyard.

The NTSB concluded Kennedy had fallen victim to spatial disorientation while descending over water at night—consequently losing control of the aircraft. Prevailing weather at the time of the accident consisted of generally clear skies and visibility of four-to-six miles in haze. However, weather and light-conditions in the vicinity of Martha’s Vineyard were such that all basic landmarks were obscured, thereby rendering VFR flight challenging, though technically legal. Kennedy Jr. was not instrument rated.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov