Piper Lance Crashes into South Dakota Wind Turbine

Stephen Pope

Tuesday, April 29, 2014 at 05:42 PM ET

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** Photo: KELOLAND News**

Key Takeaways:

A Piper Lance crashed into a wind turbine in central South Dakota during foggy weather, killing the pilot and three passengers.
The accident occurred several miles from the nearest airport under conditions of poor visibility (4 miles, rain, snow, fog).
The FAA is investigating why the aircraft was flying so low, noting that despite the pilot holding instrument and commercial ratings, there was no indication of an IFR flight plan.

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A Piper Lance flying in foggy weather in central South Dakota yesterday crashed into the blade of a wind turbine, killing the pilot and three passengers.

The FAA has confirmed that the 1978 Piper PA-32R-300 struck a blade of the wind tower outside Highmore, South Dakota, in poor weather, but offered no explanation as to why the airplane was so low when it was still several miles from the nearest airport.