Piper PA-38 Crash During Practice GPS Approach in Pawtucket, Rhode Island (N2316P)

Accident Overview and Flight Details On November 17, 2008, at approximately 1703 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-38, N2316P, was substantially damaged during a practice global positioning system (GPS) approach to North Central State Airport (SFZ) in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The aircraft was operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated from Theodore Francis Green State Airport (PVD) in Providence, Rhode Island, at 1654. Both occupants, the certificated private pilot and a pilot-rated passenger, were killed in the accident. The aircraft had been fueled with 12.3 gallons of aviation gasoline at PVD earlier that morning. The pilot contacted an automated flight service station at 1626 to request an instrument flight rules (IFR) weather briefing for a one to one and one-half hour flight to practice instrument approaches within approximately 15 nautical miles of PVD. At the time of the briefing, the pilot was unsure which airports he would use for the practice approaches. Radar contact with the aircraft was lost at 1702. The last recorded radar target placed the aircraft about two-thirds of a mile south of SFZ at 500 feet mean sea level, approximately 80 feet above ground level, with a ground speed of 82 knots. Starting at 1703:12, the Rhode Island Enhanced 9-1-1 system began receiving calls from residents surrounding the accident site, most of whom reported hearing a loud explosion and seeing a ball of fire.