VFR into IMC · NTSB ERA09FA092
CESSNA 172S — Goodland, FL
| Date | December 18, 2008 |
| Location | Goodland, FL |
| Aircraft | CESSNA 172S |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Night · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Uncontrolled descent Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) |
| Pilot age | 74 |
| Pilot total time | 820 hrs · Building experience |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained - C
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Light condition-Dark-Contributed to outcome - F
- Personnel issues-Psychological-Perception/orientation/illusio-Spatial disorientation-Pilot - C
What happened
The pilot departed at night in visual meteorological conditions to work on night recurrence training and was flying in an area over water with limited visual references. Witnesses near the accident site reported hearing the sound of an airplane engine that increased in rpm. Some witnesses observed the airplane in a "nose-dive" toward the water. The airplane crashed into about 5 feet of water on a tidal mud-flat, about 16 miles south-southeast of the departure airport. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any preimpact malfunctions or anomalies. The pilot had accumulated about 820 hours of total flight experience and had flown about 20 hours during the 2 years preceding the accident. He did not possess an instrument rating. A law enforcement helicopter pilot who responded to the accident site reported that it was very dark and believed that lack of visual cues with the naked eye would have required navigation via aircraft instrumentation.