Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cherry Capital Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kalkaska, Michigan 49646
Saturday, December 6, 2008 15:13 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The instrument-rated pilot departed on a cross-country flight from Minnesota to New York. While en route and in visual flight rules conditions above the clouds, the pilot elected to divert to a nearby airport due to adverse weather conditions. The pilot received an instrument-flight-rules clearance, radar vectors, and instrument approach information from air traffic control (ATC). However, he was unable to complete the approach due to trouble receiving the localizer signal for the instrument landing system (ILS) approach. The pilot requested that he be able to continue with only glideslope information and the controller informed the pilot that his current altitude (2,700 feet mean sea level) was the minimum altitude that ATC could authorize. The pilot informed ATC that he was going to descend and ATC reported that radar contact was lost. Over the next approximately 4 minutes, the controller instructed the pilot several times to climb. The pilot did not comply with these requests and radar data indicated that the airplane circled several times about 1.5 miles east of the airport during this time period. After several requests the pilot agreed to climb and accepted vectors for another approach. Transcripts indicated that the pilot was able to successfully tune his navigation equipment for the global-positioning-system approach to the airport. While the airplane was being vectored for another approach the controller instructed the pilot to climb and the pilot responded "I'm off," which was the last transmission received from the accident airplane. Radar data showed that the airplane remained airborne and maneuvered east of the airport for 36 minutes after the last radio transmission from the pilot. Witnesses on the ground reported seeing the airplane circling before it struck trees, the ground, and a residence. The last radar contact was within 0.1 miles of the accident location. Review of the pilot's flight records showed that he had accumulated about 8 hours of actual instrument flight time since he received an instrument rating about 10 months prior to the accident; however, the records do not indicate that the pilot had met the recent flight experience required by regulations to act as pilot in command in instrument flight conditions. The autopsy on the pilot revealed evidence of multiple previous and one very recent, possibly ongoing, heart attack. There were no indications that the pilot had been symptomatic with or was aware of his heart disease. The circumstances of the accident do not suggest incapacitation, and the pilot did not indicate any symptoms in discussions with air traffic controllers. It could not be determined whether distraction or impairment due to the pilot’s heart disease may have played a role in this accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from trees and terrain during the instrument-flight-rules flight. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to comply with instrument flight procedures and his lack of recent instrument flight experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/6/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1513 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Kalkaska |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49646 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 443843N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0851030W |
| Event Location Airport | Cherry Capital Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TVC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 21 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 624 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1527 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 100 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TVC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 624 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Indefinite (V V) |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 26 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.6 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | SPECI KTVC 061901Z 28003KT 2SM -SN OVC015 M04/M06 |
| 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) | 27027 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-AGL-ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2010 1:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6053B |
| NTSB Number | CEN09FA083 |
| 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 | 206H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20608272 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | -- |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 10 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 753 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | K HARRIS FLYING LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1671 BAY RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAKE GEORGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 12845-4816 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Keith L. Harris |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1671 BAY RD |
| Operator City | LAKE GEORGE |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 12845-4816 |
| 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 | SGS |
| Departure City | South St Paul |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1115 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GFL |
| Destination City | Glens Falls |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 25 2010 11:42AM |
| User who most recently changed record | brajo |
| 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 | -- |