Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Great Harbor Burkina Faso
Saturday, October 13, 2007 10:36 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On October 13, 2007, at 1036 eastern daylight time, an amateur-built Lancair IV, N95HS, was destroyed when it encountered turbulence over Bahamian waters near Great Harbor Cay, Berry Islands. The certificated commercial pilot was presumed to be fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight, from Lynden Pindling International Airport (MYNN), Nassau, Bahamas, to Palm Beach International Airport (KPBI), West Palm Beach, Florida. The airplane was operating under Bahamian flight rules.
An air traffic control transcript, and radio transmissions recorded between the pilot and Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center, revealed that, about 1023, the pilot first contacted the controller, "climbing through...ten thousand four hundred for twelve thousand." The controller then cleared the airplane to flight level 200, which the pilot acknowledged.
At 1032, the controller advised the pilot that there were intermittent areas of precipitation, "from moderate to extreme along your route of flight, deviations for the weather approved, when able cleared direct isaac [intersection]." The pilot responded, "i'm not showing any of that on my nexrad, i'm not sure where that area is, and ah, can you give me a better idea?" The controller then stated, "no sir, i really cannot, we don't have reliable reporting weather and our nexrad is inoperative today, and i'm just reporting this because we had an aircraft at eight thousand along your route of flight run into some moderate to extreme turbulence and heavy rain." The pilot then responded, "belay that, my , my nexrad is working out here, i'm going to deviate to the east now to get around that." The controller approved the deviation, which the pilot acknowledged.
At 1036:02, the pilot contacted the controller to tell her that he was in "severe, severe turbulence right here and heavy rain." The controller then cleared the pilot to make "evasive maneuvers," including changing altitude or "make a three-sixty, that's approved, just keep me advised." The pilot did not respond, and although there were a number of additional queries from the controller, there were no further transmissions from the airplane.
Radar data indicated that the airplane was on a northwest track, at 20,500 feet, and subsequently made a right turn, toward the southeast. The last radar contact occurred at 1036:13, at 25 degrees, 33.3 minutes north latitude, 77 degrees, 58.3 minutes west longitude, with the altitude indicating 14,100 feet. Weather radar indicated that the airplane was in an area of moderate to heavy precipitation.
According to a representative from the U.S. Coast Guard, a cutter subsequently recovered an inflated raft with the airplane registration number on it, in the vicinity of 25 degrees, 38 minutes north latitude, 78 degrees, 02 minutes west longitude. There were also smaller pieces of debris in the water, but neither the pilot nor any substantial parts of the airplane were found.
The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate, with airplane single engine land and sea, multiengine land and sea, and instrument airplane ratings. He also held a repairman certificate for his airplane. The pilot's latest FAA third class medical application was issued in February 2006.
According to FAA records, the airplane, which was built by the pilot from a kit, was certificated in November 2004. According to airplane maintenance records, the pilot performed a "100 hour/annual conditional inspection" on March 21, 2007, and as of September 7, 2007, the airplane had 242 hours of operation.
The investigation is under the direction of the government of the Bahamas. For further information, contact:
Department of Civil Aviation
Flight Standards Inspectorate
P.O. Box AP-59244
Nassau, N.P. Bahamas
Telephone: 242-377-7042
This report is for informational purposes, and only contains information released by or provided to the government of the Bahamas.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/13/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1036 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Great Harbor |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | BURKINA FASO |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 253318N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0775820W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | -- |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | Foreign |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 13 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 24 2008 9:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | ntsb\Administrator |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | AAI-100 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N95HS |
| NTSB Number | NYC08WA014 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Non-Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Sullivan |
| Aircraft Model | Lancair IV |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | -- |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | -- |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | -- |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | New Port Richey |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 34652 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MYNN |
| Departure City | Nassau |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | BF |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PBI |
| Destination City | West Palm Beach |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 24 2008 9:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |