Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Decatur Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Decatur, Illinois 62522
Wednesday, January 7, 1998 14:47 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot called the Flight Service Station, obtained a weather briefing and filed an IFR flight plan. He was cleared for takeoff and was instructed to make a left turn after takeoff. Radar contact was established and the pilot was instructed to climb and maintain 6,000 feet and to proceed on course. The pilot acknowledged this transmission. Three minutes later the Champaign Approach Controller asked the pilot to verify that Wichita was his destination. The pilot made a transmission of which only the last portion 'six nine papa' was legible. The approach controller noted that the airplane was turning right and not left as instructed. The controller attempted to contact the pilot regarding the turn, but the transmission was not acknowledged and radar contact was lost. One witness reported seeing the airplane '...come out of the clouds heading straight down to a nose dive.' Another witness reported hearing the engine 'wide open'. The airplane impacted the terrain approximately 1 1/4 mile northeast of the airport. Examination of the airplane and engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane. Contributing factors were low ceiling and freezing drizzle.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/7/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1447 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | DECATUR |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 62522 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | DECATUR AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DEC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 24 |
| Airport Elevation | 682 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1450 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 204 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 682 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 20 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 28 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 1352 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 7 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 10:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6669P |
| NTSB Number | CHI98FA080 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | P210N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | P210N |
| Aircraft Serial Number | P21000196 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 11 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 36 |
| Airframe Hours | 2742 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROBERT WILLIAM DONNELLY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4506 AMHERST ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | ERIE |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 16506 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | DEC |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1444 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ICT |
| Destination City | WICHITA |
| Destination State | KS |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 10:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 5300 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |