Accident Aeropro CZ Aerotrek A220 N214K,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 232521
 
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Date:Monday 27 January 2020
Time:13:54 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic EFOX model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Aeropro CZ Aerotrek A220
Owner/operator:Rollison Light Sport Aircraft Inc
Registration: N214K
MSN: 57819
Year of manufacture:2020
Total airframe hrs:8 hours
Engine model:Rotax 912 ULS
Fatalities:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:Grafton, WV -   United States of America
Phase: En route
Nature:Private
Departure airport:Clarksburg-Benedum Airport, WV (CKB/KCKB)
Destination airport:
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
On January 27, 2020, about 1255 eastern standard time, an Aeropro CZ A220, N214K, was destroyed when it impacted trees and terrain while en route near Grafton, West Virginia. The private pilot was fatally injured.
According to an employee of the business that sold the airplane to the accident pilot, the pilot arrived at Shawnee Field Airport (1I3), Bloomfield, Indiana on January 25, 2020, to take delivery of the newly manufactured airplane. He reported that the pilot completed multiple training flights with a flight instructor over the weekend.
On the morning of the accident, he departed on the cross-country flight to his home airport after indicating to the mechanic and flight instructor who assisted with the airplane's delivery and transition training that he was going to 'scud run.' After stopping for fuel en route, the pilot departed to continue the flight.
According to automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast data, for the first 5 minutes after takeoff, the airplane appeared to be performing a normal en route to cruise climb, but, when the airplane reached about 3,000 ft mean sea level (msl), the climb rate increased considerably. For the next 2 to 3 minutes, the airplane climbed at an accelerated rate, its groundspeed slowed, and the course heading deviated to the left and right. During the final 10-15 seconds of data, the airplane completed a 180°, rapidly descending left turn. The final reported position showed the airplane at 4,300 ft msl, about 1/4 mile from the accident site.

The condition and orientation of the wreckage indicated that the airplane impacted terrain in a steep and rapid descent. The wreckage was heavily fragmented and further damaged by a postcrash fire. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal evidence of a preimpact mechanical malfunction. Remnants of the whole airframe parachute system were not identifiable; whether the pilot attempted to activate the system could not be determined based on the available information.
Review of weather conditions indicated that the airplane likely entered an overcast cloud layer and instrument meteorological conditions around 3,000 ft msl and remained in those conditions for the entire climb to a maximum altitude of about 5,500 ft msl. In the cloud layer, conditions were conducive to the development of light-to-moderate rime airframe icing. The overcast layer of clouds likely had tops near 11,500 ft msl, so it is unlikely that the pilot entered visual flight rules (VFR) conditions above the cloud layer. Several weather observations and forecasts available to the pilot before departure called for these conditions. Although there was no evidence that the pilot obtained an official weather briefing, statements made by the pilot on the morning of the accident indicated that he was aware of the poor weather conditions and that he intended to continue VFR flight to his destination regardless of the forecast conditions. The pilot was instrument rated and current; however, the airplane was neither certified nor equipped for flight in instrument or icing conditions.
It is likely that the pilot was attempting to maintain control of the airplane in instrument meteorological conditions after accumulating structural icing that degraded the aerodynamic characteristics of the airplane. In addition, the pilot may have experienced erroneous flight instrument indications due to an icing-induced pitot-static system blockage. These factors indicate that the pilot likely lost control of the airplane after his continued VFR flight into instrument meteorological and icing conditions and subsequently entered a steep descent and spiral from which he did not recover.

Probable Cause: The pilot's decision to continue a visual flight rules flight into instrument meteorological conditions and conditions favorable for airframe icing, which resulted in a loss of control of the airplane.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: ERA20FA088
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

https://wajr.com/small-plane-crash-under-investigation/
https://www.whsv.com/content/news/Police-Small-airplane-goes-down-in-northern-West-Virginia-567332251.html
http://wvmetronews.com/2020/01/27/small-plane-crashes-near-marion-county-border-with-taylor-county/
https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/update-downed-plane-left-ncwv-airport-after-refueling-shortly-before/article_8f1cd7ef-3282-544b-a459-360b4c641de4.html
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/west-virginia/articles/2020-01-27/police-small-airplane-goes-down-in-northern-west-virginia

http://www.aerotrek.aero/
https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/100871/pdf
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e2G4BctHWR4/Xk3UM3R8zDI/AAAAAAACoKU/IAxzb2yRsjs47MILK0-3kMZEZXztCJUWACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/KathrynsReport.jpg (photo)

Location

Media:

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
28-Jan-2020 03:17 Captain Adam Added
28-Jan-2020 06:32 Geno Updated [Aircraft type, Departure airport, Source, Embed code]
28-Jan-2020 10:30 RobertMB Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
28-Jan-2020 13:40 RobertMB Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Source, Damage, Narrative]
27-Jan-2021 18:31 RobertMB Updated [Date, Time, Operator, Source, Narrative]
13-Jun-2021 18:41 aaronwk Updated [Source, Damage, Narrative]
25-Nov-2021 14:04 Captain Adam Updated [Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
05-Jun-2022 11:38 harro Updated [Date, Time, Narrative, Accident report]

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