History of the Flight
On January 12, 2023, about 2017 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-28-180, N4254T, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Dawsonville, Georgia. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
According to flight track records, on January 6, 2023, the pilot departed Stafford Regional Airport (RMN), Stafford, Virginia, and arrived at Concord-Padgett Regional Airport (JQF), Concord, North Carolina. On January 8, 2023, he departed JQF and arrived at Cherokee County Regional Airport (CNI), Canton, Georgia. The purpose of the trip was work-related meetings.
Fixed base-operator (FBO) personnel at CNI reported that about 1600 on the day of the accident, the pilot arrived at the airport via rental car and requested that his airplane be fueled. The FBO personnel were unable to do so at that time due to heavy rain and lightning nearby.
FBO personnel reported that they discussed with the pilot his plan to take off in poor weather and fly at night. The pilot stated, “after the rain passes it should be fine right?” He further stated that he had an international flight scheduled to Europe the following day from the Washington, DC, area and wanted to leave as soon as possible. After further discussion, the pilot agreed to book a hotel in the area. The staff provided the code to the airport gate should he want to arrive in the morning before the FBO opened. The pilot subsequently left the airport in the rental car.
Fuel records showed that later in the evening at 1954, the pilot returned to the airport after the FBO had closed and, via self-service, added 27 gallons of 100-low lead aviation fuel to his airplane.
According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ADS-B flight track data, at 2005 the airplane departed runway 23 at CNI. The airplane flew on varying headings toward the east-northeast and continued to climb for about 10 minutes, reaching a peak altitude of about 7,200 ft mean sea level (msl). In the final two minutes of the flight, the airplane began to descend followed by a series of tight turns before the airplane entered a rapidly descending spiral turn. The airplane’s final position was recorded at 2017:32, about 0.15-mile south of the accident site at an altitude of about 2,000 ft msl.
A witness who was about one mile from the accident site saw what she believed to be an airplane descending and turning/spinning toward the ground. She saw a white light and an orange light and heard a loud engine up until the moment of impact. After the sound of impact, she did not hear anything further from the airplane, nor was there an explosion or fire.
On January 13, 2023, about 0900, an FAA Alert Notice (ALNOT) for a missing aircraft was issued after family members notified the FAA. The wreckage was located several hours later.
According to FAA air traffic control (ATC) records and the FAA’s contract Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) provider Leidos, there was no known communication between the pilot and ATC, nor was there a VFR flight plan on-file for the accident flight.
According to Foreflight account data, the most recent route of flight entered at 1822 was for a direct route from CNI to the pilot’s home airport RMN, with an en route altitude of 7,500 ft.
Personnel Information
According to FAA airman records, the pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. He did not hold an instrument rating.
The pilot’s paper logbook was recovered in the airplane at the accident site and its contents reviewed. He had logged flights from December 18, 2020, through November 22, 2022. The pilot’s temporary airman certificate was located in the wreckage with a date of issue of November 23, 2022. The pilot’s checkride was not logged, and there were no flights logged after November 22, 2022.
The pilot had logged 171 hours, with 71 hours as pilot-in-command. Most of his flight time was in the accident airplane. He logged a total of 3.7 simulated instrument hours and 4.4 hours at night. He had not logged any flight time in actual instrument conditions.
Review of publicly available flight tracking websites found that several flights were logged in the accident airplane between November 22, 2022, up to the accident date. Presuming the pilot, who owned the airplane, was the pilot-in-command for those flights, the review found that about 32 hours of flight time was accumulated, with 10 hours being at night. In the 30 days before the accident, the airplane was flown about 10 hours.
Meteorological Information
According to a National Transportation Safety Board weather study, areas of precipitation, convective weather, and clouds were near the departure airport and along the pilot’s route of flight and altitude flown.
The closest weather reporting location to the accident site was CNI, about 14 miles west of the accident site at an elevation of 1,219 ft. Observations closest to the departure time of 2005 reported visibility 10 statute miles, scattered clouds at 700 ft above ground level (agl), scattered clouds at 7,500 ft.
At 2015, the observation nearest the accident time, visibility was 1 mile in mist with thunderstorm in the vicinity, ceiling broken at 900 ft and overcast at 2,600 ft agl. Remarks noted lightning in the distant northeast.
Additional weather reporting stations to the east and north observed similar conditions: light to moderate rain, reduced visibility, broken and overcast cloud layers at 1,200 ft and 2,800 ft agl.
According to a High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) numerical model data and satellite infrared images, near the final portion of the flight track, cloud layers were likely present at 900 ft through 10,000 ft agl, with an additional broken layer near 22,000 ft. The freezing level was identified at 8,285 ft agl, above the maximum altitude reached.
According to a review of weather radar base reflectivity imagery, during the final portion of the flight, the airplane entered areas of light intensity echoes.
According to ForeFlight, the pilot created a route briefing for CNI to RMN with a proposed departure time of 1700. No subsequent route briefings were located by ForeFlight, nor were any other weather briefings located for the accident flight by Leidos.
The route of flight weather briefing generated at 1700 did not include any inflight weather advisories (Convective SIGMETs or G-AIRMETs). Had the pilot obtained an updated briefing closer to departure time, VFR flight would not have been recommended based on existing observations and forecast products.
Astronomical conditions indicated that the accident occurred at nighttime with no illumination from the moon, which was expected to rise after 2309.
The witness about one mile from the accident site recalled that it was a dark overcast night, but it was not windy or raining at the time she observed the accident.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane impacted wooded terrain near the top of rising terrain at an elevation of 1,250 ft msl about 14 miles northeast of CNI. The wreckage was highly fragmented, located largely in one compact area, and tree damage was consistent with a near-vertical flight path. All major portions of the airframe were located. Flight control continuity was established from all primary flight control surfaces to the cockpit except for separations consistent with tensile overload.
The cockpit, switches, levers, and flight instruments were severely damaged by impact forces. The directional gyro was disassembled and exhibited rotational scoring, consistent with normal operation of the engine-driven vacuum pump powered flight instruments.
Examination of the engine found no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The propeller exhibited blade polishing, chordwise scratches, and S-bending, consistent with the engine operating under power at impact.
Medical and Pathological Information
According to the autopsy report by the Division of Forensic Sciences, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries and the manner of death was an accident.
Toxicology testing by the FAA’s Forensic Sciences Laboratory identified ethanol in muscle tissue at 19 (mg/dl, mg/hg). Ethanol was not detected in vitreous specimen; testing in liver tissue was inconclusive. The toxicology results were negative for drugs and glucose.