Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
Tuesady, April 16, 1996 16:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was cruising at 13,000 feet msl in IMC conditions when the pilot requested and received clearance to descend to 9,000 feet to avoid flying in the clouds. Radar data indicates that moments later the airplane made a turn to the right and descended abruptly, then disappeared from radar and radio contact. Witnesses reported that there were severe storms in the area, including hail, heavy rain, high winds, thunder, and lightning at the time of the accident. Analysis of satellite imagery indicated a temperature of -12 degrees at 9,000 feet msl and a freezing level at 4,700 feet msl. AIRMET Zulu Update 2 for icing conditions pertained to the route of flight, and there were numerous pilot reports of turbulence and icing conditions in the vicinity of the accident. There was no record that the pilot was advised by FSS of the AIRMET information about the icing conditions. ATC records indicated that the pilot had encountered severe turbulence at altitudes below 13,000 feet during the 1 1/2 hours before the accident. According to the Owners Manual, the airplane must not be exposed to icing encounters of any intensity.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's continued flight into adverse weather conditions which led to airframe ice and a loss of control. Related factors were: the failure of the FSS briefer to advise the pilot of a valid AIRMET regarding icing conditions, the icing conditions, and turbulence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/16/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1605 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | ROCKY MOUNT |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24151 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| 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 | 1550 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ROA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1176 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 13000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 24 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 30 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Heavy |
| 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) | 889 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 16 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1905 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N518EC |
| NTSB Number | IAD96LA063 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Glasair |
| Aircraft Model | GL20 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | GL20 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 518 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1145 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHARLES M. DISEKER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 413 DASHER |
| Aircraft Owner City | AUSTIN |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78734 |
| 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 | GMU |
| Departure City | GREENSVILLE |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1456 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | JYO |
| Destination City | LEESBURG |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| 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 | -- |