Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Greenville/Pitt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bethel, North Carolina 27812
Sunday, January 14, 2001 18:25 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight proceeded VFR, without a flight plan, until a location about 40 miles southwest of the destination airport. Due to weather at the destination, the pilot filed and was given an IFR clearance. He was cleared to descend to 3,000 feet, proceed to the initial approach fix for the ILS runway 20 approach, and subsequently cleared for the approach, via the published procedure turn. The minimum altitude for the procedure turn was 1,600 feet. According to the controller's statement, he requested an altitude report from the pilot, and had to advise him his "assigned altitude was 3,000…..he was at various altitudes from 2,000 to 2,700." The last radar plot at 1823:47, showed the flight was at 2,100 feet, still in the procedure turn, when radar and radio communications were lost. The airplane struck wires about 35 feet above the ground, about 11.5 miles north of the airport. The pilot had accumulated a total of 4,015 total flight hours, all in single engine aircraft, and 137 hours in this make and model aircraft. In addition, the logbooks showed that he had 324 total night flight hours, 135 simulated instrument flight hours, and 105 actual instrument flight hours. The pilot had logged a total of 10.6 instrument flight hours for the entire years of 1999 and 2000. July 12, 2000, was the last entry that showed .4 of an hour instrument flight time. Examination of the engine, propeller, and the vacuum pump revealed no discrepancies. The accident occurred during the hours of darkness, and the reported weather at about the time of the accident was; 300 overcast, visibility 1 sm light rain, winds calm, temperature 55 degrees F, dew point 54 degrees F, and the altimeter was 30.19 inches Hg. Toxicological tests revealed that Chlorpheniramine was found in the urine and blood at levels consistent with a normal single dose of the medication within approximately the previous 24 hours. Chlorpheniramine use can result in drowsiness, and has measurable effects on performance of complex cognitive and motor tasks (e.g. flying an aircraft). It may also interfere with the normal function of the inner ear, potentially increasing susceptibility to spatial disorientation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane due to spatial disorientation, which resulted in an in-flight collision with power lines and the subsequent impact with terrain. A factor in this accident was: the pilot's lack of recent instrument flight experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/14/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1825 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | BETHEL |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27812 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 353811N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0772311W |
| Event Location Airport | Greenville/Pitt |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PVG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 330 |
| Airport Elevation | 27 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1755 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 190 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PVG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 27 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.19 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 12251 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SE REG COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 14 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1940 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 10 2002 8:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | GREENSBORO FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3996T |
| NTSB Number | MIA01FA060 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR/IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-30351 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | Sep 22 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 118.56 |
| Airframe Hours | 6703.62 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NORMAN COX |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 113 KING STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | TIFTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 31794 |
| 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 | TMA |
| Departure City | TIFTON |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PVG |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - Initial approach fix (IAF) to final approach fix (FAF)/outer marker (IFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2002 8:23AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 20 |
| Runway Length | 6500 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |