Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Counts, Virginia 24237
Friday, March 12, 1999 12:15 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was destroyed when it impacted mountainous terrain at a 55-degree descent angle. The pilot was returning from a business trip where he had attempted to sell the airplane. The sale was not completed based upon the results of a pre-sale inspection. The pilot was seen as visibly upset, and departed the airport for his home field. No flight plan was filed, and the pilot was never in contact with air traffic control facilities. Radar coverage revealed that, during the approximately 35-minute flight, the airplane climbed to, and maintained 8,700 feet until about 3 minutes prior to the accident. The airplane descended, then leveled off, then descended again, and impacted terrain around an elevation of 1,750 feet. The estimated rate of the final decent was initially 1,800 feet per minute, which increased to 6,400 feet per minute. In flight, the airplane's track over the ground had been about 325 degrees magnetic. However, the swath cut through the trees at the accident site was approximately 030 degrees magnetic. The private pilot received his certificate less than 4 months earlier.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/12/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | COUNTS |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24237 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Unknown |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1250 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BLF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2857 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 55 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 278 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 12 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 11:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N231HU |
| NTSB Number | NYC99FA071 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20K |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M20K |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25-0268 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2740 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 12 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 1991 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NEPTUNE TECHNOLOGY, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 810 CASCADE ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | CINCINNATI |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45240 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | RAYMOND V. ONLEY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 14A |
| Departure City | MOORESVILLE |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1150 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | I69 |
| Destination City | BATAVIA |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |