ERA25FA310 · Cessna 310Q

On August 23, 2025, about 1825 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 310Q, N7664Q was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Milledgeville, Georgia. The commercial pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations personal flight. According to a witness, the pilot, who was based in Hilton Head, South Carolina, had flown to Fairfield County Airport (FDW), Winnsboro, South Carolina to obtain an instrument flight rules (equipment) recertification. Once completed, the pilot departed runway 4 at FDW about 1723 on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan to Baldwin County Regional Airport (MLJ), Milledgeville, Georgia, about 130 nautical miles to the south-southwest. Preliminary air traffic control communications and ADS-B data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration showed that after departure the pilot made a right turn and flew east for about 6 miles then made a left 360° turn to the southwest while climbing to an en route cruising altitude of about 10,000 ft mean sea level (msl). Altitudes, ground speeds and headings were consistent throughout the en route portion of the flight. As the airplane approached the initial approach fix (IBUDY) for the RNAV GPS 10 arrival to MLJ, the pilot was in communications with the Atlanta radar approach controller. The pilot was issued a descent to 4,000 ft, provided the MLJ altimeter, and asked to verify that he was in receipt of the weather. The pilot responded with confirmation and was subsequently cleared for the RNAV Runway 10 Approach; the controller instructed the pilot to pass over IBUDY at or above 3,000 ft, which was acknowledged. There were no further transmissions from the pilot. About 10 seconds after the last communications and 6 miles east IBUDY, the airplane entered a left turn towards the south and descended. The controller advised the pilot “Low altitude alert, six four Quebec, check your altitude immediately.” The airplane continued on a track of about 120° and descended until flight track data was lost at 1821, about 6 nm west of the approach end of runway 10 at MLJ. During the descent, the airplane’s ground speed increased from 140 kts to 179 kts. Reported weather conditions around the time of the accident showed overcast conditions around 2,200 to 2,500 ft with clouds extending to 10,000 ft. There was no precipitation activity in the area. There was a 10 to 15 knot tailwind during the last portion of the flight and the freezing level was above 15,000 ft with no reported PIREPs in the region. The airplane initially impacted the tops of 78-ft pine trees, then level terrain before coming to rest at an elevation of 462 ft. The wreckage path was oriented on a magnetic heading of 151° and the debris field was 135 ft wide and 660 ft long. The airplane wreckage was highly fragmented. There was no evidence of a post impact fire observed at the accident site and no evidence of an inflight fire was observed on the airplane wreckage. Tree and ground impact evidence was consistent with a slight airplane nose down wings level attitude. Subsequent examination of the wreckage revealed that all major components of the airplane were accounted for. Elevator, rudder, and aileron flight control continuity were confirmed from the control surfaces through the cockpit controls; the control cables were traced through tensile overload breaks in the cables that exhibited a “broomstraw” appearance. The elevator trim position was measured through the actuator and corresponded to a trim setting about 5° nose up. The flap handle was in the up (retracted) position. The fuel system components that were undamaged contained fluid with the smell and consistency of aviation fuel that was absent of contamination. The landing gear selector was in the up (retracted) position and the landing gear actuators indicated that all 3-landing gear were retracted at the time of impact. The instrument panel analog gauges and electronic primary flight instruments were all severely damaged by impact forces and their readings could not be observed; there was no non-volatile memory available for download. Both engines separated from their respective wing mounts during the accident sequence. They were discovered on the last 1/3 of the wreckage path and were impact damaged. The spark plugs remained in their respective locations and the magnetos were impact-separated and located along the wreckage path. Both propeller assemblies separated from their respective engines and were located within the wreckage path. Both 3-bladed metal propellers showed chordwise scraping on several of the blades with leading edge gouging and bends. One blade on each of the hubs, was separated and discovered within the wreckage field. The remaining propeller blades remained attached to their respective hubs. The wreckage was retained for further examination.

Verbatim NTSB factual narrative from the NTSB dataset