| Crash location | 30.038889°N, 92.370834°W |
| Nearest city | Kaplan, LA
29.997984°N, 92.284852°W 5.9 miles away |
| Tail number | N7430J |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 31 Aug 2018 |
| Aircraft type | Piper PA28R |
| Additional details: | None |
On August 31, 2018, about 0756 central daylight time, a Piper PA28R airplane, N7430J, impacted a tower near Kaplan, Louisiana. The pilot and passenger were fatally injured and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was registered to a private individual and operated by Space City Aviators under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight, which departed about 0746 without a flight plan from Abbeville Chris Crusta Memorial Airport (IYA), Abbeville, Louisiana.
After departing IYA, the airplane flew about 15 miles to the northwest, where it struck a television/radio tower in a rural area. The tower's height was 1,793 ft above ground level and the airplane impacted about 200 ft below the apex of the tower. The highly fragmented wreckage was dispersed over an area about 700 ft wide. The tower collapsed and the buildings at the base of the tower, which were unoccupied, caught fire and were destroyed. No ground injuries were reported.