Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cashiers, North Carolina 28717
Saturday, December 14, 2002 11:33 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said he had just climbed to 9,000 feet, about 30 miles from Greenville, South Carolina, he saw the city in the distance. He said that after checking the automated terminal information service and noting that the cloud cover was reported as 5,000 feet scattered at the Greenville, South Carolina airport, he told the FAA Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center controller, who had been providing him with visual flight rules flight following service, that he would be initiating his descent in visual meteorological conditions. He said that was the last thing he remembered prior to the accident. According to the FAA inspector who responded to the scene of the accident, the airplane impacted snow covered White Side Mountain, near Cashiers, North Carolina, at about the 4,200-foot level.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate in-flight decision by which he conducted visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions and his failure to maintain terrain clearance. Contributing factors were a low ceiling and mountainous terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/14/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1133 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Cashiers |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28717 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 351500N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0831000W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1054 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AVL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2165 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.8 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2300 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13599 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 14 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1225 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 1 2003 9:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Charlotte, North Carolina |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5899W |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA029 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-2709 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2000 |
| 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 | Oct 10 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 2570 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Garfield E. Humphreys |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1772 S.W Airosa Blvd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Port St. Lucie |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 34984 |
| 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 | BNA |
| Departure City | Nashville |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GMU |
| Destination City | Greenville |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 2 2003 9:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| 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 | -- |