Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Oxford, Alabama 36203
Thursday, April 10, 2003 17:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the Macon Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS), the private pilot called in to get a weather briefing on the conditions from Thomasville, Georgia, to Detroit, Michigan. The pilot informed Macon AFSS that he was aware of the "swirling mess" and wondered how far west he would have to fly in order to avoid it. At 1438, the Macon AFSS advised the pilot that the lowest cloud conditions between Thomasville, Georgia, and Gadsden, Alabama were twelve hundred feet, and that the observation was twenty-three minutes old. The current observation showed that the weather conditions were beginning to deteriorate and that the ceiling dropped two hundred feet. A witness reported, on April 10, 2003 between 1630 and 1700 central standard time, a high wing; tail wheel type airplane flew over their home. The witness recalled the weather consisted of low clouds, rain and fog. There were several pilot reports recorded within a 60-mile radius surrounding the time of the accident. All of the reports were identified with pilot's operating under instrument flight rules. The pilot reports were consistent with the base of the overcast layer at 1,500 feel mean sea level with varying tops from 5500 feet west over Birmingham to 11,500 feet west of Atlanta. On April 11, 2003, at 1045 CST, a hiker in the Cheaha State Park discovered the wreckage of the downed airplane along a hiking trail at approximately the 1800 foot level of Hernandez Peak. Local authorities found the private pilot was seated in the right front seat, and the student pilot seated in the left front seat.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's continued VFR flight into IMC conditions and his failure to maintain obstacle clearance. A factor was low ceilings.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/10/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Oxford |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 36203 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 332730N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0854830W |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ANB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 612 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| 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) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.83 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 15813 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 11 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 29 2004 7:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Birmingham FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3166D |
| NTSB Number | ATL03FA075 |
| 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 | 180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31964 |
| 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 | Feb 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 201 |
| Airframe Hours | 744 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Blue Water Aircraft Corporation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 Silverside Road Ste 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | William Sumner Humphrey |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 23661 Huron River Dr. |
| Operator City | Rockwood |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 48173 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TVI |
| Departure City | THOMASVILLE |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1530 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AL48 |
| Destination City | THOMASVILLE |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 20 2004 2:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| 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 | -- |