Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Penhook, Virginia 24137
Monday, September 4, 2006 11:32 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Shortly after departing on a VFR cross-country flight, the pilot contacted air traffic control and requested flight following services. About 7 minutes later, the pilot asked the controller if he knew what the "ceiling" of the clouds was, and about 4 minutes after that asked the controller for a radar vector. When queried about the request, the pilot responded, "we're kinda lost in some fog here." The controller then asked the pilot to state his present heading, to which the pilot replied, "I can't tell, I think we're upside-down." The controller instructed the pilot to turn right, and several seconds later advised the pilot to stop the turn. During this time the airplane had completed a left turn, and its altitude varied between 4,500 and 4,700 feet. The pilot then stated, "we can't see, we can't see, we can't see." Witnesses reported hearing a loud sound, and then saw the wings of the airplane descend to the ground detached from the fuselage. Examination of both wings revealed signatures consistent with an in-flight separation in the positive, or upward, direction. All of the fracture surfaces examined on both wings, and their respective wing struts, were consistent with overload. No evidence of any pre-separation failures or malfunctions were noted. The pilot did not contact any flight service stations or use DUATS to obtain a weather briefing prior to the accident flight; however, a relative of the pilot stated that the pilot had checked the weather and found that it "looked ok above 2,500 [feet]." The weather conditions reported in the vicinity of the accident site included low clouds and visibility in light to heavy rain. AIRMETs for IFR conditions and mountain obscuration were issued before the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during climb, which resulted in exceeding the design stress limits of the airplane, and an in-flight breakup. Factors associated with the accident were the pilot's continued visual flight rules flight into instrument meteorological conditions, and his spatial disorientation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/4/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1132 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Penhook |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24137 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 365656N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0793634W |
| 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 | 1154 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 340 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ROA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1175 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 26 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 63 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 59 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| 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) | 30.2 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21379 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 4 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2007 2:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Richmond FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2932J |
| NTSB Number | NYC06FA215 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 150G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15065732 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 74 |
| Airframe Hours | 5212 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ira R. Nash |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fork |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | W91 |
| Departure City | Moneta |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1120 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FLO |
| Destination City | Florence |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 10 2007 5:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| 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 | -- |