Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain crash, Nov 7, 2008 (4 killed)
Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain accident on November 7, 2008 near Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia with 4 fatalities. Cause: Steep descent into...
- Date: November 7, 2008
- Aircraft: Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain
- Location: Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia
- Fatalities: 4
- Phase of flight: Takeoff and climb
- Cause: Steep descent into terrain consistent with uncontrolled flight. The ATSB could not establish why it happened, and pilot spatial disorientation or incapacitation could not be ruled out.
A privately operated Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain on an IFR flight from Moorabbin to Port Macquarie via Bathurst took off from runway 35 at Bathurst at night. It descended steeply and struck terrain about 3 km north of the airport at high speed, and the wreckage burned. The owner-pilot and three passengers were killed.