VFR into IMC · NTSB CEN09FA195
GRUMMAN AMERICAN AVN. CORP. AA-1B — Golden, NM
| Date | March 9, 2009 |
| Location | Golden, NM |
| Aircraft | GRUMMAN AMERICAN AVN. CORP. AA-1B |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Night · Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Prior to flight Miscellaneous/other |
| Pilot age | 42 |
| Pilot total time | 300 hrs · Low time |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 2 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Physical-Impairment/incapacitation-Alcohol-Pilot - F
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Ceiling/visibility/precip-Below VFR minima-Decision related to condition - C
What happened
The non-instrument-rated private pilot and passenger were commuting to work in the dark, following a familiar route of flight. The airplane was not equipped to fly in instrument weather conditions and there was no evidence found indicating the pilot had obtained a weather briefing or filed a flight plan. One witness described light rain falling at the departure airfield 30 minutes before the airplane departed. A second witness, who was driving along the airplane's intended route of flight, saw the airplane depart the airfield and described the weather deteriorating from light rain to snow as she drove towards the accident site. She indicated that heavy snow was falling when she saw the accident site and notified authorities. Ethanol was detected in a postmortem urine specimen (at 0.191 mg/dL), and in two separate postmortem blood specimens from the pilot (at 0.075 and 0.092 mg/dL), consistent with impairment from the effects of alcohol at the time of the accident. No witnesses to the pilot’s behavior the night prior to the accident could be found.