Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atlantic Ocean Burkina Faso
Saturday, July 20, 2002 6:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-instrument rated private pilot encountered level 4 thunderstorms and collided into the Atlantic Ocean, 15 miles west of Freeport, Bahamas. There were no records of weather briefings made to the pilot by the Federal Aviation Administration prior to the accident. According to the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center, the airplane was at a cruise altitude of 4700 feet when radio and radar contact was lost. During the subsequent search for the missing airplane, the Coast Guard recovered three occupants and about 300 pounds of aircraft wreckage/debris.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot continued VFR flight into IMC and thunderstorm conditions which resulted in spatial disorientation and subsequent loss of control of the airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/20/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 600 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Atlantic Ocean |
| Event State | ATLANTIC OCEAN |
| Event Country | BURKINA FASO |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 264611N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0791104W |
| 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 | 15 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 25 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 553 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PBI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 50 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1637 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14808 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Faa Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 20 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 718 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 8:07AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Miami IFO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9738C |
| NTSB Number | ATL02LA144 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32RT-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-7885071 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 62 |
| Airframe Hours | 5622 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Lexanna Aircraft Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2174 Bellcrest Circle |
| Aircraft Owner City | Royal Palm Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33411 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Craig Alan Hubert |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2762 Linkside Dr. |
| Operator City | Wellington |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33414 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MYFG |
| Departure City | Freeport |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | BF |
| Departure Time | 535 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PBI |
| Destination City | Palm Beach |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 5 2003 7:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |