Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wellington, Illinois 60973
Monday, November 20, 2006 17:25 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was destroyed during an in-flight collision with terrain during night visual meteorological conditions. The pilot contacted air traffic control (ATC) after takeoff and requested visual flight rules (VFR) flight following. ATC radar data indicated that the flight climbed to 5,500 feet mean sea level (msl) and proceeded on-course toward the intended destination. About 30 minutes into the flight, ATC informed the accident airplane of traffic in his vicinity. The other airplane was approximately 3 miles ahead of his position, northeast bound at 5,000 feet msl at that time. The accident pilot reported he did not have the traffic in sight. About 2 minutes later, ATC informed the accident pilot that the traffic was about 1-1/2 miles off his right wing. The pilot was also instructed to contact another ATC facility. The accident pilot did not respond to either transmission. The ATC radar track data suggested that the airplane subsequently entered a descending left turn, from a southeast course to a southwest course. The airplane appeared to level off at 4,900 feet msl momentarily, before it entered a descending right turn. The final radar data point was at 4,000 feet msl, which was the floor of radar coverage in the area. The airplane appeared to be in a right turn, passing through a northwest course at that time. The accident site was located approximately 1/2 mile east of the final radar data point. The accident site was located in a sparsely populated, rural agricultural area. The wreckage distribution was consistent with a low-level separation of the horizontal stabilator prior to impact. The examination also revealed that the right aft wing spars were bent upward and fractured at the wing-to-fuselage splice joint. All fracture surfaces were consistent with tensile overload failures. Stabilator and rudder control continuity was confirmed from the control surface to the aft cabin area. The post accident airframe and engine examination did not reveal any anomalies associated with an in-flight malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Spatial disorientation experienced by the pilot while attempting to visually locate traffic during cruise flight, which resulted in a loss of aircraft control. Contributing factors were the inadvertent overload failure of the wing spar and stabilator, and the night lighting conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/20/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1725 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Wellington |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60973 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403341N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0874446W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1725 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 166 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DNV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 697 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.34 |
| 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) | 22960 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 20 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 30 2008 4:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Springfield FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8990W |
| NTSB Number | CHI07FA026 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-10570 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 27.1 |
| Airframe Hours | 4457.7 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Davis Clinic PC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Indianapolis |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46202 |
| 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 | VYS |
| Departure City | Peru |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1650 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HFY |
| Destination City | Indianapolis |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 11 2008 11:17AM |
| 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 | -- |