N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Carlisle, Arkansas 72024
Sunday, June 22, 2003 23:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The aircraft was substantially damaged when the pilot descended on final approach, at night, without the runway environment in sight and impacted an embankment. The pilot became disoriented during the VFR flight. He attempted to contact center and approach control facilitites, however, positive contact was never established. The pilot reported: "I could not see the airport beacon, although I thought I could see the airport hangar and airport environment." He noted that he did not see any runway threshold lights, however, he "felt very strongly that the runway was below" him. He goes on to report: "I set 30 [degrees] of flap and extended the landing gear for landing. The airplane's landing lights were on at this point looking for the runway." The left wing subsequently impacted an embankment and spun the airplane around 180 degrees as it came to rest in a flooded rice field. The accident site was 6 miles from the nearest airport and 75 miles west-southwest of the the intended destination. A post-accident examination of the aircraft did not reveal any anomalies. The pilot stated there were no failures or malfunctions with the aircraft or engine prior to the accident. The pilot reported weather conditions during the flight as clear with unrestricted visibility.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper in-flight decision to descend for landing, at night, without the runway environment insight. Contributing factors were the pilot's disorientation, the embankment and the dark night condition.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/22/2003
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 2330
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Carlisle
Event State ARKANSAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 72024
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 345000N
Event Location Longitude 0914800W
Event Location Airport N/A
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 Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2235 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 130
Weather Observation Facility ID SGT
Elevation of weather observation facility 224
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 18
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 6
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 90
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) 29.9
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14205
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 23 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1011
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 25 2003 11:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA -- Little Rock FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9TK
NTSB Number CHI03LA175
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 210M
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 21062330
Certified Max Gross Weight 3800
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 Apr 15 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 2534
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Bearden Contracting Corp
Aircraft Owner Street Address P. O. Box 34545
Aircraft Owner City Memphis
Aircraft Owner State TN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 38184
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 9M8
Departure City Sheridan
Departure State AR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2030
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code AWM
Destination City West Memphis
Destination State AR
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 25 2003 11:14AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --