Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Coleman, Wisconsin 54112
Sunday, November 29, 1998 16:10 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot-rated passenger said the pilot (her husband) flew over Lake Michigan at 6,500 feet msl to the Coleman, Wisconsin, area. Over Wisconsin they descended through three different cloud layers. She recalled passing 2,500 feet msl when they entered the first cloud layer, and that they flew between cloud layers. The last time she recalled seeing the altimeter, it indicated that the airplane was descending through 1,000 feet msl. 'We were doing a 4 mile circle to get down. We could see land and trees. Then we couldn't see anything. It was pure white. Then I was looking at this big birch tree.' Witnesses on the ground heard the airplane make two circular passes over their locations. One witness said that following the second pass he heard a loud revving of the engine followed one to two seconds later by the sound of wood cracking. The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a single- engine land rating. The pilot-rated passenger also holds a private-pilot certificate with single-engine land rating. At 1622 cst, the Flight Service Station at Green Bay, Wisconsin, reported ceilings of 800 feet agl broken, 1,100 feet agl overcast, 3 miles visibility, light rain and mist. Witnesses on the ground, who were within 1/2 mile of the accident site at the time the accident occurred, described the weather as consisting of thick fog and mist with the visibility less than 1/2 mile. Examination of the wreckage revealed no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the trees and his intentional flight into IMC conditions. Factors contributing to this accident were the pilot's lack of instrument certification, his becoming lost in the poor weather, his inadequate preparation for flight by failing to obtain adequate weather information, his improper decision to attempt a visual approach in instrument conditions, and the trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/29/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1610 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | COLEMAN |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 54112 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1622 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 187 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GRB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 38 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 695 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1372 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1410 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 29 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 | Feb 23 2001 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N72RE |
| NTSB Number | CHI99FA042 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 172F |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17252068 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Mar 12 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 51 |
| Airframe Hours | 4321 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RONALD ERMIS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | W 8107 E 16TH ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | COLEMAN |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 54112 |
| 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 | 07G |
| Departure City | CHARLOTTE |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:55PM |
| 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 | -- |