No fatalities

19 Jan 2016: PIPER PA 46 350P — NO BOUNDARIES AVIATION LLC — Ottawa, KS

Ottawa, KS, United States

On 19 Jan 2016, a PIPER PA 46 350P operated by NO BOUNDARIES AVIATION LLC was involved in an aviation accident near Ottawa, KS. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The flight crews encounter with un-forecasted freezing rain resulting in an uncontrolled descent, forced landing, and substantial damage to the airplane's firewall, and forward pressure bulkhead. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1778583330Data APIEditorial standards

A flight instructor and student pilot executed a forced landing in a field after encountering moderate icing and freezing rain during an IFR training flight. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

Incident Overview

A flight instructor and a pilot rated student receiving instruction were operating under instrument flight rules (IFR) in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). According to the flight instructor, the airplane accumulated light rime ice throughout the flight. After holding at a Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Range (VOR), they completed a VOR approach and executed the missed approach procedure. They set power to climb at 130 knots indicated airspeed and began climbing to 5,000 feet.

Icing Encounter

During the climb, the aircraft encountered freezing rain. The airspeed began to deteriorate, and the degree of ice accumulation increased from light to moderate. The flight instructor reported that all of the airplane's de-ice systems were functioning, yet he was unable to maintain altitude. He determined that landing at the destination airport was not an option and executed a forced landing in an open field.

Landing and Damage

The instructor affirmed that during the landing, the airplane bounced several times before coming to a stop. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall, forward pressure bulkhead, and puncture holes in the airplane skin.

Mechanical Status

The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or anomalies prior to or during the flight that would have prevented normal flight operation.

Contributing factors

Attain/maintain not possibleEffect on equipment