PRELIMINARY NTSB REPORT: 4 DEAD WHEN A PIPER PA-32R-300, N5802V, COLLIDED WITH A HIGHWAY BARRIER DURING A FORCED LANDING ATTEMPT NEAR CHAMBLEE, GEORGIA. THE AIRPLANE WAS DESTROYED.

NTSB Identification: ERA15FA208 

14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation 

Accident occurred Friday, May 08, 2015 in Chamblee, GA 

Aircraft: PIPER PA-32R-300, registration: N5802V 

Injuries: 4 Fatal. 

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report. 

On May 8, 2015, about 1010 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-32R-300, N5802V, collided with a highway barrier during a forced landing attempt near Chamblee, Georgia. The commercial pilot three passengers were fatally injured and the airplane was destroyed. 

The airplane was registered to and operated by TLT and GGBB LLC. as a personal flight. Day, visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan. The flight originated from Peachtree DeKalb Airport (PDK), Chamblee, Georgia, about 1008 eastern daylight time and was destined for University-Oxford Airport (UOX), Oxford, Mississippi.
A review of the air traffic control (ATC) transcript revealed that the pilot contacted clearance delivery for an IFR clearance.  ATC provided the clearance, which included radar vectors, and "climb and maintain 3,000; expect 8,000 in 10 minutes."  

The pilot read back the clearance correctly, and confirmed that he had the most recent automatic terminal information service (ATIS), which was information "Whiskey." 

The pilot contacted ground control, and indicated that he was ready to taxi. Ground control instructed the pilot to taxi for runway 3R, via bravo, hold short 3L, and the pilot read back the instructions correctly. The pilot then contacted the tower controller informing them that he was holding short 3L and ready. 

The tower controller instructed the pilot to "fly heading 360 and cleared for takeoff." The pilot then questioned the controller regarding which runway to take off from and the controller cleared the pilot for takeoff from runway 3L. Approximately two minutes after departure the tower controller called the pilot to verify heading. 

The pilot responded "zero-two-victor, I'm having some problem climbing here." Followed by "zero-two-victor; were going down here at the intersection." This was the last transmission made by the pilot.
A witness stated that he was about 2,300 feet off the departure end of the runway. He stopped to look at the airplane because it was moving extremely slow and only 75-100 feet above ground level when it went over his head. 

He went on to say that the engine sounded normal and despite the slow speed the airplane was not "wobbling" left to right. He continued to watch the airplane as it flew out of his view.
First responders to the accident site located the airplane in the eastbound lane of interstate 285, approximately 2 miles north of PDK. There were ground scars across four traffic lanes that ended at a 5 foot concrete highway divider where the airplane came to rest. 

The airplane was found fragmented and a post-crash fire ensued. The wreckage path was on a heading of 021 degrees magnetic, at coordinates 33°54'44.12"N, 84°17'8.46"W.

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DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- The National Transportation Safety Board has published its preliminary report about the May 8 plane crash that killed four people.

According to a witness in the NTSB report, which was released early Tuesday morning, he was about 2,300 feet from the end of the runway when he noticed the plane was moving "extremely" slow and was only about "75-100 feet above ground level when it went over his head." The witness added the engine sounded "normal and despite the slow speed, the airplane was not wobbling left to right."

About two minutes after taking off, the pilot, 53-year-old Greg Byrd of Asheville, N.C., radioed the tower controller and said, "I'm having some problem climbing here." He then said, "We're going down here at the intersection," according to the report. That was Byrd's last transmission.

The plane Byrd was flying took off from DeKalb-Peachtree Airport at around 10:10 a.m. and went down moments later near the Peachtree Industrial Boulevard interchange. FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the Piper PA-32 aircraft departed Runway 3 Left at PDK, then crashed about two miles away.

The single-engine Piper PA-32 aircraft was scheduled to land just before 11 a.m., CT in Oxford, Miss., according to FlightAware. It had arrived at PDK at about 9:15 a.m., from Asheville.

Also on board the plane were Byrd's two sons, Phillip Byrd of Asheville and Christopher Byrd of Atlanta, along with Christopher's fiancee, Jackie Kulzer of Atlanta. The two Atlanta residents had boarded the plane at PDK. Also killed in the crash was a family dog.

They were on their way to the University of Mississippi's graduation ceremonies Saturday for Robert Byrd when the plane went down.

Emergency responders arrived at the scene about a minute after learning of the crash. DeKalb County Fire Capt. Eric Jackson confirmed the four deaths. No injuries were reported on the ground.

Witnesses said they saw the plane flying very close to the ground, then crash into the interstate median. They said it "exploded" and burst into flames on impact. Nobody on the ground was hurt, although the front of a large truck was brushed by the plane just before it hit the median.

"It looked like it was struggling. You could see him trying to get the nose of the plane up. It was edging up, and then it just dropped," said motorist Don McGhee, 48, who saw the aircraft nearly hit a traffic light pole near the highway on-ramp. "It was just a huge fire, just smoke and fire."

The plane had just refueled, said Eric Alleyne, an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board. He will be doing a flight reconstruction and expects to release a report on the crash in six months to a year.

The small plane does not have a black box, Alleyne said, only an emergency locator transmitter that was not needed. He does not yer know whether the pilot made any radio contact before the crash.

Witnesses said they saw the plane flying very low before crashing into the median on I-285, about a mile from DeKalb Peachtree Airport. 

Truck driver Gerald Smith, who was traveling eastbound on I-285, says he slammed on his brakes, and the plane clipped his hood.

"If I would have stayed on the gas, it would have come in the passenger door," Smith said. The plane crashed into the median wall separating the east-and-westbound lanes in front of him, and not much was left of the plane after the flames were extinguished.

"It was quite remarkable, considering the amount of traffic on 285 at that time of day, it was not more tragic than it already is," DeKalb County Chief of Police Dr. Cedric Alexander said of the crash.

Representatives from Levett & Sons Funeral Home removed the victims' bodies from the scene.

DeKalb Fire and the police departments from Chamblee, Doraville and Dunwoody responded to the crash. Dr. Alexander said the National Transportation Safety Board will be involved in the investigation.

Officials from the NTSB said Friday that an investigation as to the cause of the crash could take up to a year to complete.

All lanes in both directions of I-285 were blocked at the scene for much of the day while federal aviation and transportation officials conducted their preliminary investigations. Westbound traffic resumed its normal flow by 4:30 p.m, while eastbound traffic was allowed to resume travel along the stretch of interstate by 6 p.m.