Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wildwood, Florida 34785
Sunday, March 16, 2008 5:25 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The noninstrument rated pilot departed on a visual flight rules cross country flight at night without obtaining a weather briefing. Review of the pilot's logbook revealed he flew 11.3 total night hours in 2007, and that he logged .2 hours of night 5 days prior to the accident. The pilot's last instrument dual instructional flight was on March 6, 1981, and the last simulated instrument flight was on December 1, 2003. The closest weather reporting facility located 7.5 miles from the accident site reported an overcast ceiling of 1,000 feet. At the time of the accident, the moon and sun were more than 11 degrees below the horizon. Review of radar data revealed the flight altitude varied from 800 feet to a high of 2,400 feet. The airplane was observed on radar to turn to the left, and back to the right four different times. The last radar contact with the airplane was 20 statute miles from the accident site. A witness who lived 10 statute miles from the accident site stated he was at his home, and heard an airplane approaching. He looked out the window towards the west, the ceilings were between 800 to 1000 feet, and it was dark with very little ambient light. He observed the airplane flying from the west to the east, and the navigation and landing lights were on. The airplane appeared to be near the base of the clouds, and it passed north of his house, and started a turn to the north, where it disappeared from view. Examination of the crash site revealed the airplane collided with a swamp, and a tree-lined open field in a nose low, right wing down attitude on a heading of 360 degrees magnetic. The wreckage debris line extended 219 feet. Examination of the airframe, flight controls, engine assembly, and accessories, revealed no evidence of a precrash mechanical failure or malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The noninstrument rated pilot's failure to maintain terrain clearance at night in marginal visual flight conditions. Contributing to the accident was the dark night, and low cloud ceilings.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/16/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 525 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wildwood |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34785 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 285350N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0821204W |
| 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 | 535 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OCF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 89 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 11 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.9 |
| 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) | 24013 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Sumter County Police |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 16 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2008 3:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando FSDO-15 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | C-FFBC |
| NTSB Number | MIA08FA080 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 51657 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | Sep 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40.4 |
| Airframe Hours | 3205.3 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Henry G. Traill |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 693 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fenelon Falls |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Henry George Traill |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO Box 693 |
| Operator City | Fenelon Falls |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | CA |
| 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 | X07 |
| Departure City | Lake Wales |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 446 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VJI |
| Destination City | Abingdon |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 20 2008 3:36PM |
| 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 | -- |