Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Morris Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Morris, Minnesota 56267
Monday, September 27, 2004 5:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted terrain about 1.55 nautical miles south of the departure airport. Night instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The non-instrument rated pilot contacted Princeton Automated Flight Service Station to file a visual flight rules flight plan. The pilot indicated that he would depart between 0530 and 0545 cdt. The flight plan was never activated. The pilot did not request, nor was he given a standard weather briefing. Records show he did not obtain weather information via a direct user access terminal service. However, the departure airport did have a commercial weather display terminal as well as an on-airport weather radio broadcast. The weather at the time of the accident included broken to overcast ceilings at 500 feet agl and visibilities between 7 and 10 sm. A pilot-rated witness reported seeing an airplane takeoff around the time of the accident. The witness stated that the airplane was about 1/2 sm southeast of the airport at about 200 feet above ground level. The witness remarked that the airplane's climb-out was shallower than a normal departure. The witness reported that there was some ground fog over the tops of the cornfields and in low-lying areas. The witness stated that the sky was not overcast as he observed stars at the time. No pre-impact anomalies were found with the airframe, engine or accessories. The pilot had 7.3 hours of night flight experience, of which 0.3 hours were without a flight instructor. The pilot's last logged night flight was more than two years prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate weather evaluation that resulted flight into night instrument meteorological conditions and a subsequent loss of aircraft control. Factors to the accident were the pilot's lack of recent night experience and the low cloud ceiling at night.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/27/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 545 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Morris |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 56267 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 453226N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0955735W |
| Event Location Airport | Morris Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MOX |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1.55 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 1138 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 535 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MOX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1138 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1073 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18197 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 28 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2200 |
| 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 | Federal Aviation Administration - Minneapolis FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N735VY |
| NTSB Number | CHI04FA284 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182Q |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18265730 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | May 5 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 100.3 |
| Airframe Hours | 3356.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Morris - Hancock Flying Club |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 42389 180th Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Morris |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 56267 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MOX |
| Departure City | Morris |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 545 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | IXD |
| Destination City | Olathe |
| Destination State | KS |
| 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 | Jun 22 2005 8:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| 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 | -- |