Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dighton, Kansas 67839
Friday, March 17, 2000 20:15 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot contacted his wife an hour before taking off from Denver, Colorado, en route to Wichita, Kansas. He told her that he would be in Wichita in 4 hours. The airplane departed at 1700 mst on a VFR flight plan. An instrument flight plan was filed by the pilot, in flight, with Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC). The airplane was handed off to the Kansas City ARTCC. No radio contact was established between the airplane and Kansas City ARTCC. At 2015 cst, Denver ARTCC's last reported radar contact with the airplane was at 4,500 feet msl, 7 miles north, and 5 miles west of the Dighton, Kansas Airport. At 2032 cst, Denver ARTCC contacted the Lane County, Kansas, Sheriff's Office, requesting assistance 'in locating a plane that disappeared from radar.' They were informed that they (Denver ARTCC) heard someone say, 'We're going down.' At 2058 cst, the airplane was located by Lane County Sheriff's deputies. Near the time of the accident, weather reporting stations within 60 miles of the accident site were reporting overcast ceiling, visibility from 1/2 to 3 miles with light rain, and temperatures and dew points at 32 degrees F. An examination of the wreckage revealed no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the inadvertent stall. Factors relating to this accident were the pilot's inadvertent flight into known adverse weather conditions, the icing conditions, and improper in-flight planning by the pilot.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/17/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2015 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | DIGHTON |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 67839 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| 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 | 2031 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 197 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GCK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2890 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 43 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| 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) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 0 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1729 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 934 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 17 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2230 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 2 2001 1:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4494X |
| NTSB Number | CHI00FA090 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-140 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-140 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7625044 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 14 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4655 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BRIAN K. SIMPSON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 609 RIVER RIDGE ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | WETUMPKA |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 36092 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | JESSE JOSEPH PERHAM |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2101 ROSALIE STREET |
| Operator City | WICHITA |
| Operator State | KS |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 67207 |
| 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 | FTG |
| Departure City | DENVER |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ICT |
| Destination City | WICHITA |
| Destination State | KS |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 2 2001 4:08AM |
| 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 | -- |