Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Knox County Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rockland, Maine 04854
Saturday, June 21, 2008 10:42 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-instrument rated pilot was conducting a local visual flight rules (VFR) flight and had planned to stay in the traffic pattern at the non-towered airport in order to perform touch and go landings. The pilot delayed her flight, as she waited for the reported cloud layer at the airport to reach at least 1,000 feet above ground level. The pilot was seen performing a pre-flight of the airplane. The airplane was then observed taxiing for departure, departing runway 13, and entering a fog bank located immediately off the departure end of the runway. Within seconds, the airplane's engine noise was heard increasing in pitch, followed very quickly by a sound "of a thud." Eyewitness accounts of the fog bank indicated that horizontal visibility at the accident site was about 250 feet. The airplane was found inverted in a tidal flat. The pilot had flown 1 hour in the previous 12 months, which was done 2 days prior to the accident flight. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any pre-impact mechanical malfunctions. Given the experience of the pilot and the sudden transition from visual meteorological conditions to instrument meteorological conditions, the pilot most likely misinterpreted the acceleration of the airplane as the nose of the airplane pitching up, and applied forward elevator control to counter.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The non-instrument rated pilot becoming spatially disorientated after inadvertently entering instrument flight conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/21/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1042 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rockland |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04854 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 440340N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0680444W |
| Event Location Airport | Knox County Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RKD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1.1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 56 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1035 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 77 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RKD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 56 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1200 |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 15 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| 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 | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24849 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Southern Region ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 21 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 26 2009 10:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | grol |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8776N |
| NTSB Number | NYC08LA223 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-140 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-25600 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 15 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13.8 |
| Airframe Hours | 7401.7 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Knox County Flying Club |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 1406 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rockland |
| Aircraft Owner State | ME |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 04841 |
| 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 | Rockland |
| Operator State | ME |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 04841 |
| 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 | RKD |
| Departure City | Rockland |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1040 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | RKD |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 29 2008 11:58AM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 |
| Runway Length | 5007 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |