PLYMOUTH, MI, USA
N55354
PIPER PA-28
N8060J
PIPER PA-60-600
A PIPER PA-28, N55354, HAD DEPARTED PLYMOUTH, MI & WAS CLIMBING FROM 1300' MSL ON A COURSE OF ABOUT 282 DEG WITH A GND SPEED OF 80 KTS. AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME, A PIPER PA-60, N8060J, WAS CRUISING AT 2100' MSL ON A FLT FROM DETROIT TO JACKSON, MI, ON A COURSE OF ABOUT 258 DEG WITH A GND SPEED OF 165 KTS. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE 2 ACFT CONVERGED & COLLIDED AT 2100' MSL. BOTH ACFT THEN PLUNGED TO THE GND & CRASHED. RADAR DATA & WRECKAGE EXAM REVEALED THE PA-60 HAD CONVERGED FROM THE RIGHT REAR OF THE PA-28; THE PA-28 CONVERGED ON THE PA-60 FROM ITS LOWER, LEFT, FORWARD AREA. THE PA-28 WAS ON AN INSTRUMENT TRAINING FLT WITH A RATED PVT PLT & AN INSTRUCTOR PLT (CFI) ABOARD. THE INVESTIGATION DID NOT REVEAL WHICH SEAT THE CFI WAS OCCUPYING. NO FLT PLAN HAD BEEN FILED FOR EITHER FLT, NOR WAS THERE ANY INDCN THAT EITHER FLT CREW HAD OBTAINED ATC/RADAR ASSISTANCE.
INADEQUATE VISUAL LOOKOUT BY THE PILOT OF THE PA-60. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THAT NEITHER OF THE FLIGHT CREWS HAD OBTAINED ATC/RADAR ASSISTANCE.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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