Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cape Elizabeth, Maine 04107
Sunday, June 15, 2008 13:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to departing on a cross-country flight, the pilot contacted a flight service station. The pilot was informed that visual flight rules (VFR) flight was not recommended, and after obtaining a weather briefing he filed an instrument-flight-rules (IFR) flight plan. The airplane departed in visual meteorological conditions and the pilot subsequently informed air traffic control that he was experiencing a problem with the airplane's artificial horizon, and that he wanted to try to conduct the flight under VFR. Approximately 15 minutes later, the pilot requested activation of his IFR flight plan. The airplane was flying in instrument meteorological conditions with light to moderate precipitation when radar and radio communications were lost. Radar data indicated that the airplane's heading varied from southwest to northwest, with a turn to the southeast immediately prior to the loss of radar contact. The airplane maintained an altitude between 7,900 and 8,200 feet, except for the last recorded altitude reading, which was at 7,200 feet. The airplane impacted the Atlantic Ocean at a high rate of speed and was not recovered. Review of the airplane's maintenance records revealed that its most recent annual inspection was conducted about 6 months prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper decision to continue the flight in instrument meteorological conditions after experiencing an attitude indicator malfunction.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/15/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1310 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cape Elizabeth |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04107 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 433318N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0694912W |
| 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 | 1306 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 285 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PWM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 48 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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) | 25310 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 15 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 3 2009 4:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland, ME |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N15EM |
| NTSB Number | NYC08FA215 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | P337H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | P3370317 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4700 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 20 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2072 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MAINARDI EDWARD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LINCOLN PARK |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07035 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | MAINARDI EDWARD |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | LINCOLN PARK |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 07035 |
| 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 | MIV |
| Departure City | Millinocket |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1225 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CDW |
| Destination City | Caldwell |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 5 2011 11:01AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| 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 | -- |