ATL89LA030 · Piper PA-28-140
Piper PA-28-140 · Accident: in flight collision with object while maneuvering
From I39 · Richmond, KY to Lonesome Pine Airport (LNP)
Narrative check · The NTSB narrative appears to contradict this record's damage. Values are shown as recorded, not corrected; compare with the narrative.
Event
- NTSB case
- ATL89LA030
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Piper PA-28-140
- Aircraft type
- Piper PA-28
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N98185
- Operator
- Robert J. Miller · private individual
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From I39 · Richmond, KYTo Lonesome Pine Airport (LNP), Wise, VA
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Maneuvering
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- In flight collision with object
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Tree(s)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed Possible conflict
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Aircraft handling, improper
- Pilot in command › Altitude, not maintained
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
WHILE EN ROUTE TO WISE, VIRGINIA FROM RICHMOND, KENTUCKY ON A PLEASURE FLIGHT, THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH TREES ON ROCKHOUSE MOUNTAIN. THE AIRPLANE WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED AND THE PILOT AND PASSENGER WERE SERIOUSLY INJURED. THE FUEL SELECTOR WAS FOUND POSITIONED TO THE LEFT TANK, HOWEVER, THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF FUEL IN THE VICINITY OF THE SEPARATED LEFT WING/RUPTURED TANK. THE RIGHT WING WAS COMPLETELY SEVERED FROM THE FUSELAGE, HOWEVER, THE RIGHT FUEL TANK WAS INTACT AND CONTAINED APPROXIMATELY FOUR GALLONS OF FUEL. DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE PRECLUDED A TEST STAND RUN, HOWEVER, NO MECHANICAL DEFICIENCIES OR MALFUNCTIONS WERE NOTED DURING TEARDOWN EXAMINATION. AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT THE PILOT WAS CIRCLING AROUND THE PASSENGER'S HOUSE SO THAT HE COULD OBSERVE IT FROM THE AIR.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ATL89LA030
- Event ID
- 20001213X27194
- Case number
- ATL89LA030
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 760dd0f03cf74426b4c9a9be1700fcd20b0af0fcd893b703c3c9264d4ee22ad2; retrieved 2026-09-21T16:00:46.873Z.