Piper PA 28R-180 N4618J accident near Saratoga, Wyoming

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain a positive climb rate after takeoff in dark, night conditions, which resulted in his controlled flight into terrain due to the lack of ground references or natural horizon.

NTSB analysis

The private pilot was conducting a personal cross-country flight. The airplane took off on a moonless night from an uncontrolled rural airport that resides in rolling prairie grass and has a sparse population. The airplane wreckage was found by a local rancher the morning after the accident. The airplane had collided with terrain that was about 100 ft above the airport elevation, 1.3 miles southeast from the center of the runway. The initial point of impact was a shallow 7-ft-long ground scar that contained green/blue lens fragments from the right wing tip. The ground scar was oriented in a direct line with the main wreckage on a magnetic bearing of 240 degrees.

Based on the direction of the ground scar, it is likely that the airplane took off from runway 23 and drifted south without establishing a positive climb rate and then impacted the slightly elevated terrain southeast of the airport. Additionally, the environment southeast of the airport lacked ground features and lighted buildings or roads, which, on a moonless night, would produce very dark conditions with no ground references or natural horizon. The private pilot had no significant instrument or night flying experience.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR14FA382 for the full record.