Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bluffton, South Carolina 29910
Sunday, February 4, 2001 13:18 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The instrument-rated pilot obtained a weather brief which indicated instrument meteorological flight conditions, with cloud bases near 600 feet, and tops above 10,000 feet. Flight visibility was 0 miles in the clouds, and near 4 miles in mist below the lowest cloud base. An AIRMET for IFR conditions had been in effect for the area of the accident site. The pilot departed Savannah, Georgia during daylight hours, and about 8 minutes into the flight after he had acknowledged an Air Traffic Controller's instruction to fly heading of 080 degrees, and to maintain an altitude of 3,000 feet, the airplane was observed to turn to the left, followed by in a descending turn to the right. The airplane was last observed at 1318:38, at an altitude of 1,700 feet. It collided with high voltage utility wires, and impacted the ground spreading burning debris over a large area. A witness who was outside her house on her porch said she saw the accident airplane in a descent with one wing low as if in a turn, and it disappeared behind trees, exploding on impact. She stated that the engine sounded as if it was operating normally prior to the impact. Postcrash examination of the aircraft did not reveal any evidence of any preaccident failure or malfunction to the airframe, the flight controls, or the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control due to spatial disorientation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/4/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1318 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Bluffton |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29910 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 321748N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0805612W |
| 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 | 1253 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 232 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SAV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 50 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.2 |
| 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) | 12195 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CNTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 4 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2002 10:10AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | West Columbia, SC |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N88FJ |
| NTSB Number | MIA01FA071 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Unknown Origin |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown Origin |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20R |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 29-0192 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3368 |
| 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 | Oct 25 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FHJ Aviation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 787 Belleview Avenue |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hammonton |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 08037 |
| 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 | SAV |
| Departure City | Savannah |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1309 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | N14 |
| Destination City | Lumberton |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 9 2002 8:09AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |