Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Monroe, Georgia 30656
Friday, March 21, 2003 10:50 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness stated she observed the airplane in straight and level flight at 1,500 feet. The airplane appeared to be traveling very fast. The nose of the airplane was observed to descend down to a 45-degree attitude and the airspeed increased. The airplane was observed to start a spin to the right and turned 180-degrees when a wing separated from the airplane. Another witness stated she observed the airplane in a 45-degree nose down attitude. The airplane was making a loud noise similar to an increase in airspeed. The nose of the airplane pitched down 90-degrees and she thought the pilot was performing a stunt maneuver. She then observed parts separate from the airplane and paper falling to the ground. Review of radar data showed the airplane's climb from the departure airport to a cruise altitude of 5, 700 feet. The radar data did not capture the breakup event. Review of failed components submitted to the NTSB Materials Laboratory revealed all failure fractures were consistent with overstress fracture, and there was no evidence of significant wear or corrosion.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s exceedence of the design limits of the airplane, which resulted in the overload failure of the horizontal stabilizers, followed by the overload separation of the right wing and subsequent loss of control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/21/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1050 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Monroe |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30656 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335200N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0834350W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1045 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 311 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LZU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1061 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.84 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1383 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14151 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communications Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 21 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 2 2009 1:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N219ME |
| NTSB Number | ATL03FA064 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 172S8478 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | Mar 17 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 1650 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Blass Aviation LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 10155 High Falls Pointe |
| Aircraft Owner City | Alpharetta |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30022 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Elite Flight Center |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1954 Airport Road |
| Operator City | Atlanta |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 30341 |
| 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 | PDK |
| Departure City | Atlanta |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1033 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | Aug 12 2003 3:26PM |
| 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 | -- |