NTSB Releases Preliminary Information on Florida Midair Collision

Details published Tuesday by the NTSB indicate that a Piper Seneca and a Cessna 172 that collided a week ago near Miami hit nearly head on. The Piper was headed northwest and the Cessna southeast, with both aircraft level at approximately 1,500 feet when the accident occurred. Both aircraft were destroyed in the collision about 10 miles northwest of Miami Executive Airport (TMB) in excellent VFR weather.

The Board said the pilot of the Cessna had just called TMB tower inbound when the accident occurred. The tower controller passed the outbound Seneca traffic's data to the Cessna pilot, but the single engine pilot never responded to the call. It is not known whether the controller observed the inbound Cessna soon enough to share that traffic information with the Seneca pilot before the Piper left tower frequency.

Both engines of the Seneca were located on the ground still attached to the airframe with both propellers attached to their respective engine. The right engine propeller was found in a feathered position and the corresponding cockpit controls for both engines were in the aft position, consistent with impact damage. One right propeller blade exhibited little damage and the other right propeller blade was bent forward. One left engine propeller blade also exhibited little damage but the other blade was bent aft.

The Cessna’s engine remained attached to the airframe as did the propeller. One propeller blade exhibited little damage while the other was bent aft and exhibited chordwise scratches.