Dahlman-Dower Tailwind W-8 — Elk City, OK, 2011

Dahlman-Dower Tailwind W-8 — Elk City, OK

1 fatal High-time pilotIMCLow altitude

Date	April 21, 2011
Location	Elk City, OK
Aircraft	Dahlman-Dower Tailwind W-8 (amateur-built)
Purpose of flight	Personal
Conditions	Day · Instrument Meteorological Cond
Phase / occurrence	Maneuvering VFR encounter with IMC
Pilot age	63
Pilot total time	10,000 hrs · High time
Time in type	Unknown
Fatalities	1

Probable cause

The pilot's decision to attempt flight into instrument meteorological conditions in an airplane that was equipped for flight in visual meteorological conditions only, which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disoriented and loss of control of the airplane.

NTSB findings

Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action performance-Pilot - C
Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Ceiling/visibility/precip-Clouds-Contributed to outcome
Personnel issues-Psychological-Perception/orientation/illusio-Spatial disorientation-Pilot - C
Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C

What happened

The pilot’s in-flight weather briefing indicated that instrument meteorological conditions, including low ceilings, were forecast for the area. He then contacted the nearest Air Route Traffic Control Center and requested an instrument clearance to a nearby airport. The controller offered to vector the pilot for an instrument landing system, very-high frequency omnidirectional radio range, or area navigation/global positioning system approach to that airport, but the pilot said he was having gyro problems. The pilot said he would divert to a visual flight rules (VFR) airport. Radio and radar contacts were then lost. A postaccident examination of the wreckage at the scene indicated that the airplane struck the shoulder of a road in an inverted, nose-down attitude. The only navigational charts found at the accident scene were a bound VFR chart atlas. No instrument flight rules charts were found. A further examination of the airplane showed that the airplane was equipped with basic VFR instrumentation only. Analysis of radar data revealed that the airplane made three turns: two tight left turns followed by a wide right turn. These turns took place in the last few minutes of flight and were consistent with a spiraling descent.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.