Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St. Marys, Georgia 31558
Tuesady, July 31, 2001 9:22 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the FAA's transcript of communications, the pilot telephoned the Flight Service Station, requesting a weather briefing and he was told of a developing line of thunderstorms south of Brunswick, Georgia. After the initial briefing, the pilot again called FAA Flight Service Station for an update, stating "we were thinking maybe we could make it to Saint Augustine." In response, the briefer told the pilot that just south of Saint Simons Island, there was a line of level three to level five thunderstorms developing, and further stated that he would be able to get around the west side of it and possibly down to Saint Augustine. The pilot then filed an instrument flight rules flight plan. The briefer informed the pilot again of the "weather" that was south of Saint Simons Island, stating that he was going to need vectors to get around it. and that he will need to go west of the line of level three to five thunderstorms. At 0902:15, the pilot made initial contact with the Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) Brunswick radar controller, reporting that he was at 6,000 feet, and was given the Brunswick altimeter setting. At 0907:16 the pilot asked if he would be vectored around the "stuff" in front of him, and the radar controller acknowledging the heavy weather ahead, gave the pilot a heading of 170 degrees. At 0908:06 the radar controller asked the pilot to let him know if he needed to deviate further east, and at 0910:47 the controller gave the pilot a 160-degree heading. At 0916:16 the radar controller asked the pilot how the heading of 160 degrees was looking, and the pilot answered that it was looking "pretty good", adding that he had just come around some "stuff" and was now heading 170 degrees. At 0917:10 the radar controller advised the pilot that the radar showed that he was 300 to 400 feet high, to which the pilot responded that he had just come through some pretty heavy updrafts. The radar controller then advised of additional areas of moderate to heavy precipitation about 10 miles ahead, and told the pilot to let him know if he wanted to deviate further. At 0917:43, the radar controller again notified the pilot of the weather in front of N41EH, and asked if he wished to deviate east of course around the weather, to which the pilot responded asking if he could go west. At 0917:52, the radar controller affirmed that the pilot could go west if he wished, and further said that a 220-degree heading would work, asking the pilot if that heading also looked good to him. At 0918:02 the pilot affirmed the heading, informing the controller that he was steering 220 degrees. At 0919:44, the radar controller gave the pilot of N41EH a heading of 210 degrees, and the pilot again acknowledged. At 0919:54, the radar controller instructed the pilot to contact Jacksonville Approach control on a frequency of 119.0 mHZ, and at 0919:57, the pilot acknowledged the frequency change. At 0923:11, a Jacksonville Approach controller called the Brunswick radar controller, informing him that N41EH had not checked in with him, and asked the Brunswick radar controller if he still had contact with N41EH, and suggesting that if he did that he turn N41EH to the east or the northwest because the weather was pretty bad for the next 10 miles. Starting at 0923:22 FAA controllers made several attempts to communicate with the occupants of N41EH, but with negative results. Radar data obtained from the FAA, showed that at 0921:17 the N41EH was indicating an altitude of 7,000 feet, and the last radar indication at 0922:29 showed N41EH to be at an altitude of 4600 feet. At 1114, the crew of the U.S. Navy P-3 which the Coast Guard had diverted in response to notification from the FAA of a possible downed airplane, located debris at latitude 30 degrees, 46.1 minutes north, longitude 081 degrees, 17.04 minutes west. Fragmented sections of the airplane structure and control surfaces, as well internal portions of the cabin were recovered from the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. The fragmented sections were staged and examined by the NTSB, and no anomalies were found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor/pilot in command's continued flight into known adverse weather, which resulted in a loss of control, and uncontrolled descent, and the airplane crashing into the Atlantic Ocean.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/31/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 922 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | St. Marys |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 31558 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 304342N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0811718W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BQK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 26 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14473 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL Comm. Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 31 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1159 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta, Georgia |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N41EH |
| NTSB Number | MIA01LA202 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Lancair |
| Aircraft Model | 360 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Eugene W. Johannesmeyer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3086 Greynolds Avenue |
| Aircraft Owner City | Spring Hill |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34608 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SAV |
| Departure City | Savannah |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 847 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SGJ |
| Destination City | St. Augustine |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 11:52AM |
| 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 | -- |