VFR into IMC · NTSB ERA19FA181
Piper PA28R — Auburn Township, OH
| Date | May 28, 2019 |
| Location | Auburn Township, OH |
| Aircraft | Piper PA28R |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Night · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Enroute VFR encounter with IMC |
| Pilot age | 55 |
| Pilot total time | 143 hrs · Low time |
| Time in type | 133 hrs |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- Personnel issues-Psychological-Perception/orientation/illusion-Spatial disorientation-Pilot - C
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Weather planning-Pilot - C
- Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Experience/qualifications-Total experience-Pilot - F
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained
- Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Experience/qualifications-Total instrument experience-Pilot
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Light condition-Dark-Effect on operation
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Ceiling/visibility/precip-Low visibility-Effect on operation
What happened
The pilot departed on a visual flight rules cross-country flight in dark night conditions. Radar data indicated that, about 9 miles from the destination airport, the airplane turned left from its previously established heading and shortly thereafter, it entered a steep, descending right turn that continued until radar contact was lost. The airplane impacted heavily-wooded terrain about 8 miles from the airport. Examination of the wreckage revealed no preimpact mechanical deficiencies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane or engine.
AIRMETs for instrument flight rules conditions and turbulence were valid at the time of the accident for the area of the accident site. Although the weather observation nearest the accident site around the time of the accident indicated visual flight rules conditions with an overcast cloud ceiling about 5,000 ft above ground level, a witness near the accident site reported an "extremely low cloud deck" at the time of the accident. Further, the weather observations at an airport south of the pilot's destination airport indicated weather conditions were deteriorating. While the pilot did text his girlfriend an image of convective weather activity, there was no record that the pilot obtained a weather briefing for the flight or requested any weather information from flight service or commercial sources. The pilot had received his private pilot certificate about 2 months before the accident and did not have an instrument rating.
Autopsy of the pilot revealed evidence of severe atherosclerotic coronary artery disease and an old myocardial infarction; however, the circumstances of the accident are more consistent with a loss of control due to spatial disorientation than with pilot incapacitation. The pilot's lack of an instrument rating and the dark night conditions both would have been conducive to the development of spatial disorientation, and the airplane's descending turn and high-energy impact are both consistent with the known effects of spatial disorientation.