Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
West Georgia Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Carrollton, Georgia 30116
Saturday, December 22, 2007 18:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of a Mooney M20F was flying a night instrument landing system (ILS) approach and became distracted while attempting to locate and tune in the airport's common traffic advisory frequency. The airplane subsequently descended below the glideslope and impacted the ground about 1 mile from the airport. The pilot stated that he did not experience any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. He also indicated that due to strong headwinds, he had earlier stopped at an intermediate airport, and should have stayed there, as he was fatigued at the time of the accident. The pilot reported 1,075 hours of total flight experience, which included 990 hours in make and model, and 62 hours in actual instrument meteorological conditions. Weather, reported at an airport about 35 miles to the east of the accident site, about the time of the accident, included a visibility of 1.5 miles in light drizzle and mist, and broken and overcast cloud layers at 400 and 700 feet respectively.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's descent below the glidepath during the approach, which resulted in a collision with terrain. Contributing factors included the pilot's diverted attention, pilot fatigue, and the night lighting conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/22/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Carrollton |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30116 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333748N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0850906W |
| Event Location Airport | West Georgia Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CTJ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1161 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1835 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ATL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1026 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 36 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23041 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 23 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2008 3:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9371M |
| NTSB Number | NYC08CA067 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 670255 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2992 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael W. Sanders |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hopatcong |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07843 |
| 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 | VJI |
| Departure City | Abingdon |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | CTJ |
| Destination City | Carrollton |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 1 2008 11:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | coxp |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 35 |
| Runway Length | 5652 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |