Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sparta Community Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sparta, Illinois 62286
Wednesday, March 5, 2003 22:40 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane encountered moderate icing conditions during cruise flight and impacted trees and terrain while the pilot attempted to divert to an alternate airport. The pilot reported to air traffic control (ATC), on several occasions, that the airplane had accumulated structural ice. The pilot passed several airports before ultimately diverting to a nearby airport because of degraded aircraft performance. The pilot told ATC that, "we're gonna need vectors...we're not gonna make it up there, we're already in stall mode, for this airplane is full of ice." The airplane impacted trees and terrain about 4.3 nautical miles south of the airport. The accident occurred at night in instrument meteorological conditions. An AIRMET for icing conditions had been issued for occasional moderate rime and mixed icing while in clouds and precipitation below 15,000 feet msl. Several PIREPs indicated moderate rime and mixed icing between 2,500 and 6,000 feet msl. The airplane was not equipped with deicing equipment and was not approved for flight into known icing conditions. The aircraft's pilot operating handbook states that, "Flight into icing conditions is prohibited."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision by his flight into known icing conditions which resulted in airframe icing and degraded aircraft performance until the onset of a stall.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/5/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2240 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Sparta |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 62286 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380438N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0894135W |
| Event Location Airport | Sparta Community Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SAR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4.3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 538 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2245 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SAR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 538 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1.75 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| 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) | 29.88 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -1190 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17398 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 6 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 30 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2005 6:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA - Springfield FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7253Z |
| NTSB Number | CHI03FA078 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-2279 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3650 |
| 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 | May 12 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 130 |
| Airframe Hours | 2428.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Prand, LLC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 30 Old Rudnick Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Dover |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19901 |
| 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 | DLH |
| Departure City | Duluth |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1951 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SAR |
| Destination City | Sparta |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |