Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lagrange, Wisconsin 53190
Friday, May 15, 1998 9:10 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The accident airplane's pilot obtained a weather briefing for the accident flight the night before the flight. He filed an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan with the intention of flying the airplane at 154 knots. The airplane departed on the IFR flight plan and climbed to 6,900 feet above mean sea level (MSL) and maintained that altitude for about four minutes while on a southwesterly heading. Weather information showed cloud bases and tops to be about 6,000 and 10,000 feet MSL respectively in the airplane's immediate vicinity. The altitude began to vary about 200 to 300 feet above and below 6,900 feet MSL. The airplane's ground track changed a number of times during the flight. The aircraft heading changed as much as 90 degrees while altitude changes were occurring. The last FAA air traffic control radar contact with the airplane showed the altitude to be 4,500 feet MSL and the heading to be opposite of its original heading. Ground witnesses reported hearing the airplane's engine accelerating and decelerating followed by a "... ka-boom..." sound. One said he saw the airplane coming out of the clouds nose first and pointing at the ground. Another said he saw the airplane come out of the clouds tumbling without its empennage. The on-scene examination revealed no pre-existing anomalies with the airframe. Before flying the accident airplane as pilot-in-command, the pilot received 11.6 hours of flight training in the aircraft. His total time in the airplane was 23.2 hours according to his logbook. The pilot's logbook showed he had 18.5 hours of actual instrument flight time and 41.4 hours of simulated instrument time. His logbook showed he had flown .6 hours of simulated instruments in the accident airplane before the accident flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot not maintaining aircraft control during cruise flight and exceeding the airplane's design stress limits. Factors in this accident was the pilot's lack of total experience in the airplane and the clouds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/15/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 910 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | LAGRANGE |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53190 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | 856 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 60 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MKE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 720 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 37 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| 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) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 67 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 61 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1937 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 15 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6059C |
| NTSB Number | CHI98FA153 |
| 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 | Commander |
| Aircraft Model | 114-B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 114-B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 14649 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3260 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 11 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 80 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | QAULITY MACHINING, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1001 UNIEK DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | WAUNAKEE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53597 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | UES |
| Departure City | WAUKESHA |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 850 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | CMH |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 25 2001 4:05AM |
| 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 | -- |