What happened
On September 5, 2009, a Piper PA-32R-300, registration N1228H, crashed near Tulsa, Oklahoma, ten minutes after departing Richard Lloyd Jones Jr. Airport (RVS). The flight was intended to be a personal trip from Tulsa to Dallas Love Field Airport.
Prior to departure, the pilot received a weather briefing that advised against VFR operations due to expected IFR conditions. Although the pilot initially requested VFR flight following, the controller informed the pilot that the airport was under IFR conditions, prompting the pilot to request and receive an IFR clearance. At the time of the accident, the weather featured a 600-foot overcast ceiling and 4 miles of visibility in haze.
After takeoff, air traffic controllers issued several instructions regarding altitude and heading. At 10:40:07, Tulsa approach instructed the pilot to climb and maintain 4,000 feet. Later, the controller instructed the pilot to fly a heading of 090 degrees to avoid antennas located to the northwest. Despite these instructions, radar data showed the aircraft was in a left descending turn. The final radar contact occurred at 10:42:08, with the aircraft at 1,200 feet. The airplane subsequently struck a guy wire on a 600-foot radio transmission tower, resulting in a post-crash fire. All 5 occupants were killed.
The investigation
Investigators examined the wreckage and found the aircraft had sustained significant damage from the wire strike. A 300-foot section of the guy wire was found entangled in the cabin and empennage. The engine assembly showed witness marks consistent with a wire strike on the No. 1 engine cylinder and the propeller blades.
Mechanical examination of the Piper PA-32R-300 revealed no anomalies in the engine, flight controls, or airframe. The altimeter, transponder, and transponder automatic altitude reporting system were all found to be current. While the gyroscopic instruments were destroyed in the crash and could not be examined, the continuity of the flight controls was confirmed up to the control surfaces.