Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Front Royal-Warren County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Front Royal, Virginia 22630
Friday, March 14, 2008 23:50 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed from runway 27 on a night instrument flight rules flight in marginal visual meteorological conditions. Rising mountainous terrain was located west of the departure airport. The pilot's first waypoint was located northeast of the airport. There was no record of the pilot previously departing the airport at night. Recorded data from the airplane's primary flight display showed that during controlled flight just prior to impact the airplane was climbing and accelerating, reaching a pressure altitude of approximately 2,200 feet mean sea level (msl) and an indicated airspeed of 140 knots. About 6 seconds before the end of the recording, the airplane began a steep descending turn to the left (roll attitude reached a peak value of 95 degrees left wing down, pitch attitude reached a peak of about 27 degrees nose down). The airplane collided with the rising terrain, about 4 miles west of the airport, at about the 1,200 msl level while on a southerly heading. Recorded weather about the time of the accident included a broken ceiling at 2,400 feet, overcast ceiling at 3,000 feet, visibility 3 miles in rain, and winds from 340 degrees at 4 knots. Examination of the airplane, airplane systems, engine, and propeller did not reveal any preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from rising mountainous terrain, and his failure to turn toward his assigned course during initial climb. Contributing to the accident were the low ceiling, reduced visibility, dark night conditions, and rising mountainous terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/14/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2350 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Front Royal |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 22630 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385420N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0781908W |
| Event Location Airport | Front Royal-Warren County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FRR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 709 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 20 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OKV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 727 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| 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) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.59 |
| 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) | 24798 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 15 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 17 2008 4:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Dulles, VA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N141SR |
| NTSB Number | NYC08FA138 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cirrus Design Corp |
| Aircraft Model | SR22 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1971 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | Jun 13 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 158 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Hector K Collison |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Potomac |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20854 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Hector K Collison |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Potomac |
| Operator State | MD |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 20854 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | FRR |
| Departure City | Front Royal |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2348 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BWI |
| Destination City | Baltimore |
| Destination State | MD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 17 2008 4:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 27 |
| Runway Length | 3007 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |