Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lake City, Tennessee 37769
Saturday, August 10, 2002 16:20 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was conducting a mountain flying instructional flight with a certified flight instructor practicing steep turns and emergency course reversal in a canyon after attending a mountain flying course in the morning. The airplane was observed by two witnesses flying at a very low altitude above the trees. The airplane made about five steep left turns, at about a 45-degree angle of bank. The airplane flew back over the witnesses's location and back into the valley. The airplane was observed to start another steep turn to the left and disappeared from view behind the trees. Witnesses heard an increase in engine power followed by the sound of an airplane colliding with trees. Examination of the airplane, flight controls, and engine assembly revealed no anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to follow procedures pertaining to mountain flying, and the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed that resulted in an inadvertent stall and subsequent in-flight collision with trees and terrain. A factor was the certified flight instructor inadequate supervision of the training flight.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/10/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1620
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Lake City
Event State TENNESSEE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 37769
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 361341N
Event Location Longitude 0841321W
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 Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1553 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 150
Weather Observation Facility ID TYS
Elevation of weather observation facility 981
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 7000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
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) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 18
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.12
Density Altitude (feet) 2925
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 3
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13234
NTSB Notification Source FAA Communication Center
NTSB Notification Date Aug 10 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1715
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 23 2003 12:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Nashville FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9307X
NTSB Number ATL02FA156
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 182R
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18268482
Certified Max Gross Weight 3110
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 15 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 73
Airframe Hours 3135
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Civil Air Patrol Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address 105 South Hansell Street
Aircraft Owner City Maxwell A.F.B.
Aircraft Owner State AL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 36112
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code JAU
Departure City Jacksboro
Departure State TN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1315
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 7 2003 2:51PM
User who most recently changed record POWP
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 --