Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rogersville, Tennessee 37857
Sunday, January 16, 2000 16:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
At 1532, the pilot of N9740Y departed on a visual flight rules (VFR) flight, and during the flight he had been receiving VFR flight following. According to the FAA transcript of communications, the pilot had twice requested progressively lower altitudes to maintain VFR. The controller approved the second request for a lower altitude, but told the pilot that at that altitude Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) might not be able to maintain radar contact with his aircraft at that low an altitude. The pilot's third request was for 7,500 feet to avoid turbulence, and at 1619 the pilot changed his destination from Tri-cities Regional Airport to Hawkins County Airport. At 1622:39 the pilot reported to that he was descending out of five thousand three hundred feet. The controller acknowledged, providing the local altimeter setting for the nearest weather reporting station, the Tri-Cities Airport. At 1622:50 the pilot acknowledged the Tri-cities altimeter setting, stating, 'three zero two six roger.' At 1628.26 the controller said, 'niner seven four zero yankee radar contact lost squawk one two zero zero cleared to advisory frequency good afternoon'. The controller made one last transmission at 1628:26, saying 'niner seven four zero yankee Atlanta.' There were no further communications with the pilot of N9740Y. N9740Y struck Clinch mountain, about 6.7 miles northwest of Hawkins County Airport, in a level flight attitude, as indicated by the freshly cut trees, at an altitude of about 2,350 feet, about 50 feet below the 2,400-foot elevation. At the time of the accident, the Tri-Cities Regional Airport was reporting a ceiling of 1,300 feet overcast. Witnesses at Hawkins County Airport stated that the ceiling and visibility had been both low at Hawkins County Airport, and the airport had been closed due to the weather. The pilot held a private pilot airplane single engine land certificate, with no instrument rating.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper in-flight planning/decision and continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) that resulted in an in-flight collision with terrain and subsequent damage to the aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/16/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | ROGERSVILLE |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37857 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 308 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 128 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TRI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1519 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 462 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 16 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1230 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9740Y |
| NTSB Number | MIA00FA069 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | P-35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | P-35 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-7134 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3125 |
| 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 | Aug 14 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 68 |
| Airframe Hours | 4517 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WESLEY EDWARD DYKES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1461 BRENTWOOD DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | MARIETTA |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30062 |
| 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 | LOU |
| Departure City | LOUISVILLE |
| Departure State | KY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | RVN |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | TN |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 24 2001 8:43AM |
| 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 | -- |