On Jan. 11, an airplane crash was reported to Virginia State police, launching a search for the aircraft. N43156, a 1983 Piper Saratoga, departed Winchester at 5:39pm and crashed a half hour later, less than 15 miles West of Bridgewater (VBW) airport. The flight reached a cruising altitude of ~6,000ft and stayed there for ~20 minutes, before descending to ~5,000ft. One minute prior to losing ADS-B contact, the aircraft slowed to 112mph (97kts.) The final ADS-B ping shows an altitude of 4,700ft, a speed of 148mph (128kts) and a descent of 766ft/min. The Saratoga had flown in from Alabaster, AL earlier Wednesday, arriving at 3:45pm. There doesn't appear to have been an IFR flight plan filed for the flight into or out of Winchester, per Flight Aware. The airplane belongs to Mangham Truck & Equipment, out of Calera, AL. The pilot was the only fatality reported, and has not been identified at the time of writing. The Piper Saratoga is a single engine, high performance, retractable gear, six-seat aircraft. Headline spotted on WHSV. Additional info found via Google & Flight Aware. This is a developing story and more details will be added as they're released.
ADS-B data for N43156. Photo source: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/map/N43156/history/20230111/2304Z/KOKV/L%2038.53259%20-79.12915
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