Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Waseca, Minnesota 56093
Saturday, January 22, 1994 19:05 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PILOT GOT A WX BRIEFING AT ABOUT 1600 CST FROM THE MINNESOTA WX ADVISORY SERVICE & DEPARTED MANKATO ON A FLIGHT TO ROCHESTER. EN ROUTE, HE HAD A RADIO PROBLEM, BUT RECEIVED LIGHT SIGNALS FROM TOWER FOR CLEARANCE TO LAND. HE ARRANGED FOR LIGHT SIGNALS TO TAKEOFF & DEPARTED IN CLEAR WEATHER AT ABOUT 1810 ON A NIGHT FLIGHT BACK TO MANKATO. BY THAT TIME, MANKATO WX WAS 900' TO 1100' BROKEN WITH DECREASING VISIBILITY. BEFORE REACHING MANKATO, THE PLANE REVERSED COURSE & CRASHED IN A SNOW COVERED FIELD (1-1/4 MI NW OF WASECA AIRPORT, HDG 100 DEG, ELEV 1020'). RADAR DATA SHOWED IT HAD MANEUVERED BETWEEN 2000' & 5300' BEFORE DESCENDING BELOW RADAR COVERAGE AT 2200'. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE WAS FOUND. LOCAL RESIDENTS SAID THE WEATHER CHANGED ABRUPTLY BETWEEN 1830 & 1900, WHEN A DENSE FOG DEVELOPED. THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED AT ABOUT 1905. LOGBOOK RECORDS SHOWED THE PILOT HAD 117 HOURS TOTAL FLIGHT TIME, INCLUDING 2 HRS SIMULATED INSTRUMENT TIME. FOG WAS NOT FORECAST UNTIL AN AMENDED FORECAST WAS ISSUED AT ABOUT 1945.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
CONTINUED VFR FLIGHT BY THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PILOT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC), AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT ALTITUDE (OR CLEARANCE) ABOVE THE GROUND. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: AN INACCURATE WEATHER FORECAST BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, OPERATION OF THE AIRCRAFT BY THE PILOT WITH A KNOWN DEFICIENCY IN EQUIPMENT (RADIO), DARKNESS, THE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS, THE PILOT'S PROBABLE SPATIAL DISORIENTATION, AND HIS LACK OF INSTRUMENT EXPERIENCE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/22/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1905 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | WASECA |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 56093 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| 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 | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1955 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MKT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1020 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 41 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 23 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 10:23AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4510N |
| NTSB Number | CHI94FA067 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8090035 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 7 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 96 |
| Airframe Hours | 3837 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NORTHSTAR AVIATION, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | R.R. 5, P.O. BOX 120 |
| Aircraft Owner City | MANKATO |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 56001 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | NORTHSTAR AVIATION, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | R.R. 5, P.O. BOX 120 |
| Operator City | MANKATO |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 56001 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | RST |
| Departure City | ROCHESTER |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MKT |
| Destination City | MANKATO |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 19 2001 5:01PM |
| 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 | -- |