Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hamilton, Georgia 31811
Thursday, November 6, 1997 18:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
When the pilot failed to arrive for his brother's college graduation, concerned family members reported that he and his airplane were missing. A search was initiated, and the Civil Air Patrol located the airplane on top of Pine Mountain. According to the pilot's personal flight log, his intended destination was Pensacola, FL, with intermediate stops for fuel at Thomson, GA, and Greenville, AL. Airport personal at Thomson confirmed that the airplane landed about 1630 on 11/6/97. They reported that the pilot purchased 26.5 gallons of 100LL fuel and departed about 1700. Witnesses at the Thomson Airport stated that when he took off, the weather was marginal VFR and deteriorating rapidly. Witnesses near Pine Mountain stated that the visibility at the time of the accident was about 1/4 mile in haze/fog. About 15 miles south of the accident site at Columbus, GA, the weather was, in part: 400 feet broken, 1200 feet overcast, visibility 4 miles with haze. Elevation at Columbus was 394 feet; elevation of the accident site was 1190 feet with 100 to 150 foot trees covering the mountain. The airplane impacted trees about 50 feet above the ground. Estimated time of the accident was 1845 (at about the time darkness was falling).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
VFR flight by the pilot into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), and his failure to maintain sufficient altitude or clearance from mountainous terrain. Related factors were: darkness, adverse weather conditions, and the pilot's self induced pressure to attend his brother's graduation the following day.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/6/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1845 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | HAMILTON |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 31811 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| 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 | 1846 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CSG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 397 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Not Reported |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| 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 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 11 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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) | 1390 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 7 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9556S |
| NTSB Number | ATL98FA007 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Champion |
| Aircraft Model | 7ECA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 7ECA |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 291 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1783 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GERALD D CHAPMAN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 75 ALEHSON ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | RYE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03870 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WILLIAM B. CHAPMAN |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 519 9TH ST SE |
| Operator City | WASHINGTON |
| Operator State | DC |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 20003 |
| 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 | HQU |
| Departure City | THOMSON |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PNS |
| Destination City | PENSACOLA |
| Destination State | FL |
| 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 | -- |