Kumamoto – Kitakyushu

On January 3, 2011 at 05:14 PM, Kumamoto – Kitakyushu experienced a crash involving Piper PA-46 (Malibu/Meridian/Mirage/Matrix/M-Class), operated by Private Japanese, with the event recorded near Kumamoto Kyushu.

The flight was categorized as private and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a mountains crash site.

2 people were known to be on board, 2 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 1, passenger fatalities: 1, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The single engine aircraft departed Kumamoto Airport runway 07 at 1711LT on a private flight to Kitakyushu, with two persons on board: a PIC in the left seat and a passenger in the right seat. At 17:12:11, the radar of the Kumamoto aerodrome station C captured the aircraft. The pilot made a position report at 6 nm north of the airport at 2,300 feet. While climbing to the altitude of 6,500 feet, the pilot was instructed to change the frequency. About three minutes after takeoff, the aircraft collided with trees and crashed in a wooded area located on the southeast slope of Mt Yago, about 14 km northeast of Kumamoto Airport. The wreckage was found in the afternoon of the following day at an altitude of 850 metres. The aircraft was destroyed and both occupants were killed, Mr. & Mrs. Hiroshi and Hiromi Kanda.

Aircraft reference details include registration JA701M, MSN 46-36188, year of manufacture 1999.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 32.8319°, 130.7810°.