Loss of Control in Flight · NTSB CEN11FA201
CESSNA 421C — Connersville, IN
| Date | February 24, 2011 |
| Location | Connersville, IN |
| Aircraft | CESSNA 421C |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Night · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Approach-VFR pattern downwind Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) |
| Pilot age | 47 |
| Pilot total time | 1,360 hrs · Experienced |
| Time in type | 558 hrs |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-(general)-Effect on operation
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Light condition-Dark-Contributed to outcome
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C
What happened
A witness reported that, despite the darkness, he was able to see the navigation lights on the airplane as it flew over the south end of the airport at an altitude of 150 to 200 feet above the ground. The airplane made a left turn to the downwind leg of the traffic pattern and continued a descending turn until the airplane impacted the ground in a near-vertical attitude. Due to the airplane’s turn, the 10- to 20-knot quartering headwind became a quartering tailwind. The airplane was also turned toward a rural area with very little ground lighting. A postaccident examination of the airplane and engines did not reveal any preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.