VFR into IMC · NTSB CEN19FA247
PIPER PA28 — Ontonagon, MI
| Date | August 3, 2019 |
| Location | Ontonagon, MI |
| Aircraft | PIPER PA28 |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Enroute-cruise VFR encounter with IMC |
| Pilot age | 36 |
| Pilot total time | 79 hrs · Student / very low time |
| Time in type | 79 hrs |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
- Personnel issues-Psychological-Perception/orientation/illusion-Spatial disorientation-Pilot
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Ceiling/visibility/precip-Below VFR minima-Effect on operation
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Convective weather-Thunderstorm-Effect on operation
What happened
The pilot, who was not instrument rated, was conducting a personal flight in visual meteorological conditions when he flew into an area of instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) with thunderstorm activity. After flying several minutes in IMC, the airplane entered a left turn that became increasingly tighter along with a with a rapid climb that was followed by a rapid descent until the airplane impacted the ground. The airplane was destroyed.
Postaccident examination revealed no evidence of a preexisting mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. The spiral flightpath with significant changes in altitude was consistent with the pilot experiencing the effects of spatial disorientation. Weather imagery indicated an outflow boundary ahead of the main cumulonimbus cloud line. The pilot likely encountered gusty and turbulent wind conditions when the airplane flew into the outflow boundary. The adverse weather conditions likely contributed to the pilot’s spatial disorientation. The pilot did not receive a weather briefing before the flight.