Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rochester, Indiana 46975
Saturday, February 5, 2005 9:07 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane contacted the trees and the terrain while maneuvering. The non-instrument rated pilot's initial transmission over the airport Unicom frequency was that he was six miles from the airport and that he was inbound for landing. Fifteen minutes later the pilot reported that he was going to circle near the airport and wait for the fog to lift. Shortly thereafter, the airplane impacted trees and descended into a frozen pond about one-half mile southeast of the airport. According to a witness, the visibility at the pilot's departure airport at the time of his departure was less then one-half mile due to fog. Visibility near the accident site at the time of the accident was described as being approximately 400 feet due to fog. The closest weather reporting facility, located 23 miles northeast of the accident site, was reporting one-quarter mile visibility due to freezing fog with a 100 foot overcast sky. Another weather reporting facility located 29 miles south of the accident site was reporting one-eighth of a mile visibility with freezing fog with clear skies. No record was found of the pilot having received a preflight weather briefing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot failed to obtain a preflight weather briefing for his destination airport and he initiated the flight into known adverse weather conditions at the departure airport. The pilot subsequently failed to maintain adequate altitude while circling the airport which resulted in the failure to maintain clearance with the trees. Factors associated with the accident were the fog and the trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/5/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 907 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Rochester |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46975 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 410356N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0861054W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 905 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 50 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ASW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 850 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| 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) | 0.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -4 |
| 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) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.4 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 19132 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 5 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1050 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2006 12:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | South Bend, IN FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N44RX |
| NTSB Number | CHI05LA065 |
| 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 | Ramsey |
| Aircraft Model | RV-8A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 81127 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 162 |
| Airframe Hours | 257 |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wilfred G. Ramsey |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Saginaw |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76179 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Terre Haute |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | RCR |
| Destination City | Rochester |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 8 2006 2:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| 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 | -- |