NTSB Identification: ERA15LA377
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, September 29, 2015 in Dawson Springs, KY
Aircraft: PIPER PA 28RT-201T, registration: N2175K
Injuries: 1 Serious.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On September 29, 2015, about 1100 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28RT-201T, N2175K, operated by a private individual, was substantially damaged during a forced landing to a field, following a total loss of engine power during cruise flight near Dawson Springs, Kentucky. The private pilot was seriously injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the planned flight to Owensboro Airport (OWB), Owensboro, Kentucky. The flight originated from Foley Municipal Airport (5R4), Foley, Alabama, about 0730.
The pilot reported that while in cruise flight at 7,000 feet mean sea level (msl), he heard a loud bang and the engine began to run rough. He declared an emergency to air traffic control (ATC); after which, another bang was heard and the engine lost all power. Additionally, pieces of the engine exited the cowling and oil flowed onto the windscreen. With the assistance of ATC, the pilot attempted to divert to runway 36 at Tradewater Airport (8M7), Dawson Springs, Kentucky; however, after descending through a cloud layer at 1,800 feet msl, the pilot could not locate the turf runway and elected to perform a forced landing to a field.
Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that it came to rest upright against a small tree, in a field about 1 mile west of 8M7. The inspector observed damage to both wings and the fuselage. He also noted a hole in the top rear of the engine case, near the No. 2 cylinder. The engine was retained for further examination.
Madisonville Regional Airport (2I0), Madisonville, Kentucky, was located about 16 miles northeast of the accident site. The recorded weather at 2I0, at 1055, was: wind from 100 degrees at 4 knots; visibility 5 miles in light rain; scattered clouds at 1,900 feet; broken ceiling at 3,700 feet; overcast ceiling at 4,400 feet; temperature 22 degrees C; dew point 22 degrees C; altimeter 29.90 inches Hg.
FAA Flight Standards District Office: FAA Louisville FSDO-17
UPDATE: DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. (9/29/15) 4:30 p.m. — A retired coal miner with first aid rescue training said he witnessed the plane that had crashed in a field directly across from his Dawson Springs home this morning.
Officials rendered aid to the Alabama pilot injured in the single-engine Piper aircraft at about 11 a.m. after he reported engine trouble, authorities indicated. He was attempting to land the plane on a grass landing strip between Interstate 69 and U.S. 62 overshooting the runway by about a mile.
Virgil Mitchell, 81, noted he was sitting outside waiting for a telephone repairman, when he spotted the low-flying aircraft.
“I didn’t even hear it,” he said. “I had just raised up and saw it coming in low, right behind that church. The engine was off … I thought, 'Boy he was low'.”
Mitchell said he saw the wing clip a cedar tree, and then, the plane hit the ground and slid across the field, stopping about 300 yards from the roadway along the 1500 block of Kentucky 109.
“I thought the plane was going to flip and explode,” he said.
Mitchell said he acted on his first instinct and ran as fast as he could toward the plane. When he got to the wreckage, he said the pilot was crawling out of the aircraft on his hands and knees.
“I was afraid maybe he was hurt bad, but when I got there to him, he was very sensible and told me where he was from and that he was going to Owensboro,” said Mitchell.
Police quickly got to the scene, Mitchell said, and the pilot asked them to roll him over on his side due to back pain.
“They told them they couldn’t, but if he (the pilot) wanted to roll on his side himself, he could and he did,” Mitchell said. “I was afraid to touch him on account of his back.”
Mitchell noticed blood dripping from the top of the pilot’s head, saying he was not complaining about that injury.
Mitchell also indicated the man said the plane belonged to his wife, as he provided officials with his wife’s phone number for immediate contact.
“The engine wasn’t shut off and he told some of the (rescue personnel) to turn the key to the left to make sure it was off,” Mitchell said, noting the pilot, who appeared to be 50 to 60 years old, was worried about the plane catching fire.
“He held himself together well considering what he’d been through,” Mitchell said.
Dawson Springs and St. Charles firefighters reported no fuel leaks were found in proximity of the wreckage, and authorities secured the scene.
The injured man was taken to Baptist Health Madisonville for treatment of a head laceration and possible back injuries, Dawson Springs Police Chief Coleman Dixon said.
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board were called to the site to investigate the cause of the crash.
Dixon said this afternoon the man’s name would be released Wednesday morning, after the Federal Aviation Administration completes the report.
Source: http://surfky.com
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