Will Rogers World Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73159
Wednesday, October 25, 2000 19:45 CDT

The instrument rated commercial pilot obtained a preflight weather briefing. IMC prevailed for the CFR Part 91 night cross-country flight, and the pilot filed an IFR flight plan. Prior to the takeoff, the pilot received ATIS information November [wind 140 degrees at 11 knots; visibility 10 statue miles; ceiling 500 broken; temperature 16 degrees C.; dew point 15 degrees C.; altimeter 30.02 inches of Hg]. The meteorological conditions at the time of the accident probably included surface winds southeast at 16 knots, cloud bases near 1,800 feet with multiple cloud layers above, light to moderate turbulence above 2,000 feet, and light rain. The runway lights (HIRL) were set to intensity level 3. The single-engine airplane was cleared for takeoff following the departure of an airline jet. Radar track data indicated the jet was at an altitude of 2,000 feet msl, when the airplane was cleared for takeoff. The airplane was airborne at least halfway down the runway, and radar track data indicated a climb profile above the jet. The pilot was cleared to contact departure control, and he acknowledged the clearance. There was no further contact with the aircraft. During the impact with terrain and post accident fire, the airplane was destroyed. There was no complete system found intact. Examination of the aircraft did not reveal any discrepancies that would have precluded operation of the aircraft prior to the impact. The pilot had satisfactorily completed a VFR only competency/proficiency check, and had flown 27.5 hours of CFR Part 135 flights in the accident aircraft. The accumulated PIC flight time in the make and model of the accident aircraft was 56.8 hours (22.3 hours at night). The accumulated flight time during the day in actual IMC was 33.8 hours, in the previous 5 years, of which 3.3 hours (2.4 hours in the accident airplane) were in the last 90 days. The most recent logged flight time at night in actual IMC, prior to the accident flight, was 0.3 hour on July 2, 1993, and 2.3 hours on September 24, 1993.

the pilot's loss of control of the aircraft during initial/takeoff climb. Contributing factors were the night conditions, low ceilings, and the pilot's lack of flight experience in actual instrument meteorological conditions at night.