Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Perry -Houston County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Perry, Georgia 31069
Saturday, March 15, 2003 22:26 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Upon approaching the destination airport, the pilot established radio contact with Approach Control, and reported a cruise altitude of 7,500 feet. and a 138- degree heading. The pilot was issued the current altimeter setting and he requested current weather for Perry, Georgia. The nearest weather reporting facility reported 600-foot ceiling and 7 miles visibility. Later into the radio conversation, the pilot was asked if he was instrument qualified and the pilot stated he was instrument qualified. When the controller asked the pilot for his current flight conditions, the pilot reported that he was at 1300 feet and requested a direct heading to Perry. The controller told the pilot that the airport was 10 miles off his two o'clock position. At 2226:04, radio and radar contact was lost with the airplane. Witnesses near the accident site observed a fireball followed by a crashing sound. Within minutes, the airplane wreckage was located, and the passenger was rescued. Examination of the accident site disclosed that wreckage debris was scattered over an area 850 feet long and 75 feet wide. The examination of the wreckage path also revealed several fresh gouges in the dirt, and there were paint chips and other debris from the airframe embedded in the ground. There were also several fire-damaged pieces of airframe material scattered throughout the wreckage path. The fire-damaged rudder assembly was lodged in a tree about 400 feet south of the main wreckage. The main wreckage, which consisted of the airframe center section cockpit and empennage, was wrapped around the base of a pecan tree 725 feet north of the first freshly damaged pecan tree along the wreckage path. The left engine assembly was 75 feet northwest of the main airframe. Examination of the wreckage debris failed to disclose a mechanical malfunction or component failure.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions, and his failure to maintain altitude/terrain clearance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/15/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2226 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Perry |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 31069 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 323038N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0834602W |
| Event Location Airport | Perry -Houston County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PXE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 8 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 418 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2253 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MCN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 354 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 600 |
| 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) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15979 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 15 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4137T |
| NTSB Number | ATL03FA062 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 320D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 320D-0037 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5200 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 13 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5401 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Joseph Bearden |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 102 Cardinal Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kathleen |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 31047 |
| 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 | GZS |
| Departure City | Pulaski |
| Departure State | TN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1915 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Perry |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 29 2004 2:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 5002 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |