Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
George Lewis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cedar Key, Florida 32625
Sunday, February 10, 2002 20:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness observed the airplane's lights, and heard the engine at full power after the airplane departed the runway. He saw the airplane turned left, at an angle of about 45 degrees, and then descend into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico about 1/4 mile from the airport. Witnesses described the weather as a dark night, with no stars visible, patches of fog, and light haze existed over the water. Recovery personnel reported seeing fog at the crash site about 1 hour after the accident. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any discrepancies with either the airframe, engine, engine components, or propeller.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the pilot to maintain control of the airplane due to spatial disorientation resulting in the airplane descending and colliding with water. A factor in the accident was a dark night .
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/10/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2000 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Cedar Key |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32625 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 290815N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0830259W |
| Event Location Airport | George Lewis |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KCDK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.75 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 225 |
| Airport Elevation | 7 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 30 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CTY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.16 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15727 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SE REG COM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 10 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2030 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2004 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Tampa FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5136S |
| NTSB Number | MIA02FA059 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | TR182 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | R18201508 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3112 |
| 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 | Jun 14 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 149 |
| Airframe Hours | 2398.7 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Flying Professionals |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10715 SW 67th St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Gainesville |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32608 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Russell W. Blaser |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4820 NW First Place |
| Operator City | Gainsville |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32653 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | CDK |
| Departure City | Cedar Key |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2000 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GNV |
| Destination City | Gainesville |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 14 2004 8:19AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 2355 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |