ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 75121
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| Date: | Sunday 13 June 2010 |
| Time: | 09:30 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-28-181 Archer II |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N6076H |
| MSN: | 28-7890161 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1977 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 6513 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-360-A4M |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 6 miles W of Umpire, AR -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | De Queen, AR (DEQ) |
| Lakeview, AR (3MO) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
According to a witness, the non-instrument-rated pilot departed when the weather was overcast at 3,000 feet and the surrounding mountain ridges were obscured. An airport located about 32 miles north of the departure airport, in the direction of travel, was reporting slightly lower ceilings. The pilot requested winds aloft for 3,000 and 6,000 feet, stating, “I need to be at about fifty five hundred probably to be safe,” adding “there’s some three thousand foot tops of some...terrain there in places.” He was likely referring to a mountain range that he would have been approaching about the time of the accident. Thus, the pilot likely intended to climb above the altitude of the reported cloud base, and, therefore, he most likely did enter the clouds. No radar data was available for the flight, and there were no eyewitnesses to the accident; however, a witness reported hearing a low flying airplane followed by the sound of an impact. A postaccident examination revealed that the left wing spar had fractured in upward bending as a result of overload; the bottom cap failed in tension. The examination did not disclose any preimpact mechanical problems with the airplane. Federal Aviation Administration guidance indicates that if neither horizon nor surface references exist, the attitude of an airplane must be determined by artificial means from the flight instruments. Further, during periods of low visibility, the supporting senses sometimes conflict with what is seen; when this happens, a pilot is particularly vulnerable to disorientation. The pilot did not possess an instrument rating, which, coupled with the low visibility as he entered the clouds, would have made him vulnerable to spatial disorientation.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
Location
Images:
Photo: NTSB
Photo: NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 13-Jun-2010 12:01 | harro | Added |
| 14-Jun-2010 03:05 | gwog | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source] |
| 14-Jun-2010 11:00 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Source] |
| 14-Jun-2010 11:02 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 14-Jun-2010 16:09 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Operator, Departure airport] |
| 01-Feb-2011 13:13 | harro | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 01-Feb-2011 13:14 | harro | Updated [Phase, Destination airport] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:25 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 26-Nov-2017 17:15 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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