Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sanford Lee County Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sanford, North Carolina 27330
Wednesday, December 17, 2003 5:02 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The passengers described the weather as "pitch black" with fog and mist. The flight was departing runway 3, and, according to one passenger, the airplane lifted off the runway, climbed to approximately 20 to 30 feet, and began a banking turn to the left. The passenger then heard bangs or thumping noises. Another passenger estimated the airplane was airborne for about 30 seconds to a minute, and she thought maybe the airplane had turned left and was laying on the ground. Examination of the accident site revealed the main wreckage was located a wooded area approximately 1,200 feet from the left side of runway 3 and approximately 4,500 feet from the runway 3 threshold. Wreckage debris and a swath of freshly broken trees extended 240 feet. Post-accident examination of components revealed no evidence of a mechanical malfunction was observed. The spouse of the pilot estimated the pilot went to sleep around 2330 the night before the flight. She did not know what time he awoke in the morning. According to air traffic control records, the pilot telephoned the Raleigh Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) at 0313 the morning of the flight. The passengers stated that the pilot had the airplane ready to go when they each arrived at the airport around 0445.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of control of the airplane during takeoff initial climb due to spatial disorientation, which resulted in an inflight collision with trees and the ground. Factors were the dark night, fog, and low ceilings.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/17/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 502 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Sanford |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27330 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 353511N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0790614W |
| Event Location Airport | Sanford Lee County Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KTTA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 300 |
| Airport Elevation | 247 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 500 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KTTA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 247 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 300 |
| 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) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.77 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 553 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KTTA 170840Z AUTO 17003KT 2SM BR OVC003 12/1 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 3 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18065 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 17 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 610 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Greensboro FSDO - 05 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9562L |
| NTSB Number | ATL04FA056 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 206H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20608089 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 96.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 683.3 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jaime F. and Teresa M. Beingolea |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5801 Stone Canyon Ct |
| Aircraft Owner City | Raleigh |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27613 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jaime Fernando Beingolea |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KTTA |
| Departure City | Sanford |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 500 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KMQI |
| Destination City | Manteo |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 31 2005 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 3 |
| Runway Length | 4300 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |