Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin 54932
Friday, November 10, 1995 22:08 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot obtained weather briefings at 1118 CST and at 1718 CST. He was advised in both briefings that VFR flight was not recommended. At 1839 CST he activated his VFR flight plan and made no other radio contacts. The pilot had flown a total of 2.8 hours of night time in the last nine months. A local witness reported that there was a 'slight covering of snow but not real windy,' at 2130 CST, but at 2230 CST, the '...wind was howling. Visibility was very low. Could hardly see the yard light 150 feet away. Winds were strong, 25 to 30 miles per hour. Snowing pretty good. Light pole was blurred. 35 feet tall....' The airplane had flown into a marsh about 300 degrees and 3.8 nautical miles from Fond du Lac Airport.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's intentional VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions, and his failure to maintain altitude. Factors included the weather obscuration due to snow and fog, the dark night, and the pilot's lack of recent night flight time.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/10/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2208 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | FOND DU LAC |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 54932 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | 2157 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 205 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RYV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 820 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 36 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 0 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2001 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 12 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2251 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N161FS |
| NTSB Number | CHI96FA029 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-151 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-151 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7415329 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| 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 | Oct 26 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 26 |
| Airframe Hours | 2799 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GFK LEASING |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2661 AIRPORT DR. |
| Aircraft Owner City | GRAND FORKS |
| Aircraft Owner State | ND |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 58203 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GFK |
| Departure City | GRAND FORKS |
| Departure State | ND |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1830 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | FLD |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| 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 | -- |