Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mount Airy/Surry County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mount Airy, North Carolina 27030
Saturday, March 1, 2003 19:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the airport manager, the instrument flight collided with the ground shortly after takeoff. Weather at the time of the accident was wind calm, visibility two statue miles, drizzle, ceiling overcast 500 feet, temperature eight degrees Celsius, dew point six degrees Celsius, altimeter 30.00 inches of mercury. Examination of the wreckage site found that the airplane had collided with terrain on the south side of an east-west oriented hill, in a near vertical nose-down attitude. The engine and forward cabin had penetrated the ground to a depth of about eight feet. The wreckage examination failed to disclose anomalies with the airframe or systems.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilots failure to maintain control of the aircraft due to spatial disorientation. A factor was low clouds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/1/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Mount Airy |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27030 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 362539N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0803329W |
| Event Location Airport | Mount Airy/Surry County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MWK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 1247 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1920 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MWK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1247 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| 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) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 637 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16815 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 1 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2215 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Greensboro FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N343BA |
| NTSB Number | ATL03FA052 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | BE-36A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-1317 |
| 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 | Dec 16 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4853 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Oscar Nathan Harris II |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 222 Turtle Cove Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | White Lake |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28337 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MWK |
| Departure City | Mount Airy |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1925 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EYF |
| Destination City | Elizabethtown |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 21 2004 12:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 4300 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |