Airplane Went Down On A Highway, Four Fatally Injured

The NTSB has released its preliminary report from an accident which occurred May 8 in Chamblee, GA that resulted in the fatal injury of four people aboard a Piper PA-32R-300 airplane.

According to the report, at about 1010 eastern daylight time, the aircraft collided with a highway barrier during a forced landing attempt near Chamblee, Georgia. The commercial pilot three passengers were fatally injured and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was registered to and operated by TLT and GGBB LLC. as a personal flight. Day, visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan. The flight originated from Peachtree DeKalb Airport (PDK), Chamblee, Georgia, about 1008 eastern daylight time and was destined for University-Oxford Airport (UOX), Oxford, Mississippi.

A review of the air traffic control (ATC) transcript revealed that the pilot contacted clearance delivery for an IFR clearance. ATC provided the clearance, which included radar vectors, and "climb and maintain 3,000; expect 8,000 in 10 minutes." The pilot read back the clearance correctly, and confirmed that he had the most recent automatic terminal information service (ATIS), which was information "Whiskey." The pilot contacted ground control, and indicated that he was ready to taxi. Ground control instructed the pilot to taxi for runway 3R, via bravo, hold short 3L, and the pilot read back the instructions correctly. The pilot then contacted the tower controller informing them that he was holding short 3L and ready. The tower controller instructed the pilot to "fly heading 360 and cleared for takeoff." The pilot then questioned the controller regarding which runway to take off from and the controller cleared the pilot for takeoff from runway 3L. Approximately two minutes after departure the tower controller called the pilot to verify heading. The pilot responded "zero-two-victor, I'm having some problem climbing here." Followed by "zero-two-victor; were going down here at the intersection." This was the last transmission made by the pilot.

A witness stated that he was about 2,300 feet off the departure end of the runway. He stopped to look at the airplane because it was moving extremely slow and only 75-100 feet above ground level when it went over his head. He went on to say that the engine sounded normal and despite the slow speed the airplane was not "wobbling" left to right. He continued to watch the airplane as it flew out of his view.

First responders to the accident site located the airplane in the eastbound lane of interstate 285, approximately 2 miles north of PDK. There were ground scars across four traffic lanes that ended at a 5 foot concrete highway divider where the airplane came to rest. The airplane was found fragmented and a post-crash fire ensued. The wreckage path was on a heading of 021 degrees magnetic, at coordinates 33°54'44.12"N, 84°17'8.46"W.

(Images from Chamblee Police cruiser dashcam video. Top image shows aircraft circled in red.)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov