Piper PA-28-180 Cherokee G, N2801T: Fatal accident occurred July 14, 2021 near Muscatine Municipal Airport (KMUT), Iowa

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.

The National Transportation Safety Board traveled to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating Entities:

Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Ankeny, Iowa

Piper Aircraft; Vero Beach, Florida 

Lycoming; Williamsport, Pennsylvania 

God Speed Aviation LLC

https://registry.faa.gov/N2801T

Location: Muscatine, IA 

Accident Number: CEN21FA320

Date & Time: July 14, 2021, 12:38 Local

Registration: N2801T

Aircraft: Piper PA-28-180 

Injuries: 2 Fatal

Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Personal

On July 14, 2021, at 1238 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28-180, N2801T, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Muscatine, Iowa. The pilot and the passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot held a private pilot certificate for single-engine airplanes and did not have an instrument rating. No flight plan had been filed and the pilot was not in contact with air traffic control. The flight originated from the Ford Airport (IML), Iron Mountain, Michigan, at 0918, and the destination has not been confirmed.

A review of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data showed that the airplane departed IML and proceeded on a 210° heading for about 220 nautical miles. The first part of the flight was at an altitude of about 4,500 ft msl. About 1141, the airplane started a series of course changes along with altitude changes that continued to the end of the flight data. At 1238, the airplane was at 2,900 ft on a heading of about 240° when it began a right descending turn. As the turn continued the radius of the turn decreased and the descent rate increased until the last recorded data point at 1238:28.7. The final recorded point indicated that the airplane was heading 165°, and still descending. The final data point was about 200 ft from the initial impact location.

The airplane impacted a farm field on a south heading. The airplane fragmented upon impact and was distributed in a fan shaped pattern. The fuselage of the airplane came to rest about 435 ft south of the initial impact point.

Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information

Aircraft Make: Piper

Registration: N2801T

Model/Series: PA-28-180 

Aircraft Category: Airplane

Amateur Built: No

Operator:

Operating Certificate(s) Held: None

Operator Designator Code:

Meteorological Information and Flight Plan

Conditions at Accident Site:

Condition of Light: Day

Observation Facility, Elevation: KMUT,547 ft msl

Observation Time: 12:35 Local

Distance from Accident Site: 9 Nautical Miles

Temperature/Dew Point: 25°C /23°C

Lowest Cloud Condition:

Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: 4 knots / 10 knots, 220°

Lowest Ceiling: Broken / 6500 ft AGL

Visibility: 6 miles

Altimeter Setting: 30.05 inches Hg

Type of Flight Plan Filed: None

Departure Point: Iron Mountain, MI (IMT) 

Destination:

Wreckage and Impact Information

Crew Injuries: 1 Fatal 

Aircraft Damage: Destroyed

Passenger Injuries: 1 Fatal 

Aircraft Fire: None

Ground Injuries:

Aircraft Explosion: None

Total Injuries: 2 Fatal 

Latitude, Longitude: 41.493333,-91.049722 (est)

Those who may have information that might be relevant to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation may contact them by email witness@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov. You can also call the NTSB Response Operations Center at 844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290.

EL DORADO SPRINGS, Missouri (KY3) - The community of El Dorado Springs, Missouri is remembering a couple killed in a plane crash in Iowa.

Daniel Slack, 68, and Sharon Slack, 69, died in a plane crash in Muscatine County. The couple left an airport in Michigan, heading back to Missouri.

The community around them said they will be missed.

“I’m going to miss them, and I’m just lost for words right now,” said Dale Mayhew. “They were good people, they were giving people.”

Neighbors said Daniel was meant to fly.

“The one thing he loved doing the most was flying, flying was his dream thing to do,” said Austin Burlingame.

Burlingame also says Daniel recently had triple heart bypass surgery, but that didn’t stop his spirit to fly.

“He was doing what made him happy, was kind of a game-changer,” said Burlingame. “Sometimes you don’t get to experience what your hobby is at the end of life.”

Air traffic control lost communication with the plane Wednesday around 2:30 p.m. Authorities found the plane in a grassy field on State Highway 38 and 170th Street.

People said Daniel and Sharon owned a series of trailer homes. Renters say they were nothing but the best.

“If we ever needed anything around the house because my mom was on hospice, and they’ve always come over here to see if we were doing alright and if we needed anything,” said Mayhew.

“Every time he would come my son would run up to him and he would always say hi and he would talk to the kid back, he would always say hi to the kid, same with Liz or known as Sharon,” said Burlingame.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a cause of the crash.

https://www.ky3.com

DEERFIELD, Kansas — Small-town folks in Deerfield knew school superintendent Daniel Slack and his wife, Elizabeth Sharon Slack, as the older couple who wore helmets when they biked around town.

School Board president Jarrad Webb recalls working with Slack on the school board for about six months prior to Slack’s retirement last year. 

“It’s a small town, and to see an older gentleman and his wife riding around town on bikes with bicycle helmets doing what few other people do … it was just interesting to see,” Webb said.

The Slacks were killed in a plane crash in rural Muscatine County on Wednesday during a flight from Michigan to their home in Missouri. It's unclear what caused the crash. Their plane disappeared from radar at the Quad Cities International Airport about 2:30 p.m., and the downed Piper PA-28-180 Cherokee G was found in a cornfield later not long after the flight tower contacted local police authorities. 

On Thursday morning, Webb, who is also the emergency medical services director in Deerfield, got a text from current superintendent Tyson Eslinger — a plane was down somewhere in Iowa, and it might be the Slacks. Another text not longer after confirmed their worst suspicions. 

“He was always a really nice guy,” Webb said. “Probably a little eccentric in some ways, but super nice and very strong in his Christian faith, which I always appreciated.”

As his date of retirement inched closer, Slack often talked about the home he had bought for their golden years in El Dorado Springs, Mo. Webb also remembered Slack talk about working on his pilot's license, finishing the ground courses and obtaining flight hours. 

The Deerfield School District issued a release on Slack's dead on its Twitter feed, saying: “USD 216 was sad to learn of the news that former Superintendent Dr. Daniel Slack and his wife Lizzy passed away yesterday in a plane crash. Dr. Slack retired in July 2020 from USD 216. Everyone at USD 216 sends our thoughts and prayers to their family during this time.”

Prior to serving in Deerfield, Slack was superintendent of several districts in Missouri.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash. 

https://muscatinejournal.com