Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Paris, Virginia 20130
Saturday, March 31, 2001 13:18 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The instrument rated pilot was ferrying his airplane from Warrenton-Faquier Airport (W66), Warrenton, Virginia, to Winchester Regional Airport (OKV), Winchester, Virginia, for an annual inspection. About 3 hours prior to departing, the pilot called flight service and told the briefer that he "would like to make a quick VFR flight from Warrenton over to Winchester", and wanted to know if he was "going to get a clear shot this afternoon for VFR." The briefer informed the pilot that the weather was forecasted to be visibility greater than 6 miles with a "best" overcast ceiling of 3,000 feet. The pilot did not request or receive the AIRMET that was issued and valid for mountain obscuration in Virginia. The airplane collided with mountainous terrain at the 1,604 foot level of the 1,880 foot high mountain in instrument meteorological conditions. When the airplane was reported missing, an air search could not be conducted due to low clouds, and a ground search was initiated. A Virginia State Trooper stated that the mountain had been fogged in on the day of the accident. Data extracted from a hand held GPS recovered depicted a northwesterly flight track from W66 toward OKV. The last recorded track point was superimposed over the accident site. Examination of the airplane and engine revealed no mechanical deficiencies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
pilot's continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/31/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1318 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | PARIS |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 20130 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385909N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0775808W |
| 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 | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1320 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OKV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 727 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| 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) | 29.8 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 466 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11241 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 31 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1720 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2002 7:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WASHINGTON DC |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5841P |
| NTSB Number | IAD01FA039 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-24-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 972 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | Nov 1 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3.46 |
| Airframe Hours | 3166.21 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | STEPHEN ADELMAN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MANASSAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20110 |
| 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 | W66 |
| Departure City | WARRENTON |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1254 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OKV |
| Destination City | WINCHESTER |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2001 3:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |