Accident Overview
On 20 April 2006 at 10:04 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 departed from Westerstede-Felde airfield on a VFR flight to Leer-Papenburg. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft entered clouds. Radar and GPS data show the flight path oscillating between the villages of Linswege and Grafenfeld. After approximately ten minutes of flight, the aircraft struck trees 3.3 km from the airport in line with runway 07 and crashed onto an adjacent field. The pilot was fatally injured, and the aircraft was destroyed.
Flight History
Witnesses observed the aircraft entering clouds immediately after takeoff and subsequently flying both inside and outside cloud cover. Radio contact with the airfield tower was maintained until shortly before the crash, but was not recorded. The flight leader reported that the pilot sounded hectic during the radio exchanges.
Pilot Information
The 49-year-old pilot held a private pilot license (airplane) issued in 2005 under JAR-FCL German regulations. He was qualified to fly single-engine land aircraft under visual flight rules. His total flight experience was approximately 80 hours, of which about 25 hours were on the accident aircraft.
Weather
At the accident site, the cloud base was 7 to 8 oktas of stratus between 800 ft AGL and 1000 ft AGL. Below that, there were scattered 3 to 7 oktas of stratus with bases between 300 ft AGL and 500 ft AGL. Horizontal visibility ranged from 2 km to 7 km. A police helicopter dispatched to the site reported visibility of about 1.5 km and a cloud base between 200 ft AGL and 400 ft AGL near Westerstede around 11:00 local time. The pilot did not obtain an individual weather briefing but used the DWD self-briefing system.
Aircraft Damage
The aircraft struck trees with both wingtips, causing the outboard wing sections with ailerons to separate. The main wreck came to rest 70 m north of the initial tree contact. The propeller separated and was found 14.7 m from the tree line, embedded 30 cm deep. The flaps were found retracted. Fuel from ruptured wing tanks was released. A post-impact fire occurred but was extinguished by the fire department using a powder extinguisher.
Medical Findings
An autopsy determined that the pilot's injuries were consistent with the accident sequence. No pre-existing natural disease was found. Toxicological analysis detected tramadol, a strong analgesic, in a concentration considered therapeutically effective. Tramadol can impair psychophysical performance due to central nervous system side effects, including nausea and dizziness (common) and circulatory disturbances (occasional). The possibility that tramadol side effects impaired the pilot's ability to act cannot be excluded.
Probable Cause
The accident occurred because the pilot entered low-hanging clouds shortly after takeoff, losing ground reference. While attempting to regain visual contact with the ground, the aircraft descended until it struck trees and crashed.