Contributor - Accidents and Regulations

Gordon Gilbert

According to an <a href="https://prod.uploads.slack.files.api.cncms.aero/F03K7DT7W22/Report_ERA19FA188_99567_6_13_2022 10_58_28 AM.pdf">NTSB final report</a>, the pilot’s failure to navigate around hazardous weather, resulting in flying into a thunderstorm, lead to the subsequent loss of control and in-flight breakup of a turboprop-converted Piper Malibu near Castalia, North Carolina, in&nbsp;June&nbsp;2019, killing the pilot and&nbsp;three passengers.&nbsp;The Safety Board also said the air traffic controller’s “failure to provide the pilot with adequate and timely weather information, as required, contributed to the pilot’s inability to safely navigate the hazardous weather.”

 


Although the pilot was not instrument-rated, he filed IFR for the Part 91 cross-country trip from Naples, Florida, to Easton, Maryland. The aircraft was also about 730 pounds over mtow at takeoff. While in cruise at FL270, the 58-year-old pilot reported to ATC that his radar showed weather ahead.&nbsp;The controller acknowledged the weather, but did not provide specifics to the pilot as&nbsp;requested, including the size and strength of the area of precipitation or cloud tops information (estimated at 43,000 feet).

 


“The airplane entered an area of heavy to extreme precipitation, likely a thunderstorm updraft, while in IMC,” the NTSB said. “Tracking information indicated that the airplane climbed about 300 feet, then entered a right, descending spiral and broke up in flight at high altitude.” The airplane was estimated to be about 148 pounds over the maximum gross weight at the time of the accident.

News about significant aircraft accidents and information from accident reports.

NTSB: Pilot and Controller Faulted in Fatal Crash

The pilot's failure to avoid a thunderstorm and ATC's failure to provide info about that storm were cited by the NTSB as factors in a 2019 turboprop crash.