Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
St. Charles County Smartt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grafton, Illinois 62037
Wednesday, August 30, 2000 9:54 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During climb after takeoff the pilot became disorientated, lost aircraft control, and the airplane impacted the Mississippi River. The instrument rated pilot departed into known instrument meteorological conditions without an instrument flight rules (IFR) air traffic control (ATC) clearance. After takeoff the pilot contacted ATC to obtain an IFR clearance to his intended destination. The ATC controller instructed the pilot to make a right turn to avoid opposite direction traffic. The traffic was on an instrument approach to the airport from which the accident airplane had just departed. During the turn the accident airplane impacted the Mississippi River approximately 2.2 nm north-northeast of the departure airport. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident with a visibility of 1-1/2 statute miles and an overcast ceiling of 300 feet above ground level. No anomalies were found with the recovered portions of the airplane that could be associated with a pre-impact condition.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot not maintaining aircraft control and altitude/clearance from the river. Factors to the accident included the pilot not obtaining an air traffic control clearance prior to departure into instrument meteorological conditions, the pilot becoming spatially disoriented, the low ceiling, and the mist.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/30/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 954 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Grafton |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 62037 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | St. Charles County Smartt |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SET |
| 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 | 14 |
| Airport Elevation | 436 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 954 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 14 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SET |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 436 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1760 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11856 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 30 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1050 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2002 10:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9047V |
| NTSB Number | CHI00FA276 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | E-55 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | E55 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TE-938 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5324 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 17 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5810.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Roby Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 382 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Marysville |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 43040 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | SET |
| Departure City | St. Charles |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 952 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ZZV |
| Destination City | Zanesville |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 31 2002 8:03AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |