Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Rohlsen , St Croix Usvi Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St.Croix, Virgin Islands 00821
Sunday, October 7, 2007 18:34 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-instrument rated pilot called a friend on St. Thomas and asked if he had a flight to St. Croix that day, and if he could he bring back a family member for him. The friend advised it would be no problem. Later, the pilot called again and stated, "I can see St. Croix from my house," so that he would fly to St. Croix and get the family member himself. The friend became concerned as the weather was "real bad" near St. Croix. The pilot departed St. Thomas and received VFR flight following. The controller asked if he was able to go through the weather. The pilot responded that he did not have any weather where he was, that there was some lightning around him, but that everything seemed "pretty good." The flight was handed off to St. Croix tower. The tower controller asked what his position was, and the pilot responded, "Roger we are level at (unintelligible) oh boy we're having some prob." This was the last transmission received. Analysis of the weather revealed level 5 thunderstorms were present in vicinity of St. Croix. The pilot probably encountered moderate-heavy rain in the minutes before the accident. However, the pilot was likely in light-moderate precipitation when the airplane was lost from radar. Multiple cloud layers existed at and below 3,000 feet. After the accident the weather observation showed winds with gusts to 17 knots. The sun had set, and twilight had ended prior to the accident. Considering the weather data, and lack of ambient light, there would have been no visible horizon, forcing the pilot to control the airplane solely by referencing the flight instruments The Airplane Flying Handbook states that "unless a pilot has many hours of training in instrument flight, flight in reduced visibility or at night when the horizon is not visible should be avoided.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The non-instrument rated pilot's decision to continue VFR flight into IMC conditions subsequently leading to a loss of control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of instrument experience, the weather conditions, and the night lighting conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/7/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1834 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | St.Croix |
| Event State | VIRGIN ISLANDS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00821 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 174434N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0645408W |
| Event Location Airport | Rohlsen Airport, St Croix USVI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TISX |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 74 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1853 Atlantic Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 110 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TISX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 74 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 17 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| 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) | 25203 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 7 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2009 10:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N100UC |
| NTSB Number | NYC08LA008 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | D55 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TE731 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 5 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 30 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2899.6 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Levette Dubois Ruan |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | St. Thomas, USVI |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 00802 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Levette Dubois Ruan |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | St. Thomas, USVI |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 00802 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | TIST |
| Departure City | St. Thomas |
| Departure State | VI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1817 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TISX |
| Destination City | St. Croix |
| Destination State | VI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 23 2009 10:28AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |