Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Chandler Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Alexandria, Minnesota 56308
Sunday, January 27, 2002 12:47 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-instrument rated pilot attempted flight into known instrument meteorological conditions. A witness reported that approximately 5 minutes after the accident airplane's departure, "... someone keyed their mike and we heard heavy breathing and cussing over the radio." The witness stated that shortly after the transmission, the accident airplane emerged from the overcast cloud layer and banked steeply prior to impacting the terrain. Weather around the time of the accident was 100 feet agl overcast with 3/4 statute mile visibility with mist. There was an AIRMET in effect for instrument flight rules (IFR) conditions including occasional ceilings below 1,000 feet agl and/or visibilities below 3 statute miles with light snow, light freezing drizzle, and mist. There was an AIRMET in effect for icing conditions, including occasional moderate rime/mixed/clear-icing while in clouds and/or precipitation below 6,000 feet agl. Prior to the accident flight a person representing the accident airplane contacted an Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) and requested a visual flight rules (VFR) weather briefing. The AFSS weather briefer told the pilot that IFR weather conditions were forecasted at the departure airport. At the time of the post-accident examination of the wreckage there was approximately 0.125-inch of ice on the leading edges of the vertical and horizontal stabilizers and top-mounted communication antenna. There were trace amounts of ice located on the leading edge of the right wingtip. No anomalies were found with the airframe, engine, or propeller that could be associated with a pre-impact condition.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's disregard of the weather evaluation and his attempt to fly into known adverse weather without an instrument rating. Factors in the accident were the low ceiling, the low visibility, and the icing conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/27/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1247 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Alexandria |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 56308 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Chandler Field Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AXN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.23 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 257 |
| Airport Elevation | 1424 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by briefer |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1236 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AXN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1424 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.75 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.79 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -348 |
| 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) | 12954 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 27 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1456 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 18 2003 4:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA, Minneapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4002B |
| NTSB Number | CHI02LA070 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | 17-30A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 75-30761 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | Jan 10 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 2175.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Manco Transportation Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4785 Rogers Highway |
| Aircraft Owner City | Britton |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49229 |
| 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 | AXN |
| Departure City | Alexandria |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ADG |
| Destination City | Adrian |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - uncontrolled |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 9 2003 8:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| 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 | -- |