Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lunken Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cincinnati, Ohio 45226
Tuesady, July 14, 2009 21:51 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he intended to “simply enjoy several hours” of night flying and to return to the departure airport. During the flight he noticed that the aircraft compass and directional gyro indications did not match. He was not familiar with the new GPS in the airplane and he was not able to get navigational information from it. The pilot became disoriented and did not recognize any familiar landmarks. It had become very dark. He saw a rotating airport beacon so he decided to land at that airport. As he was turning from downwind to base, the airplane hit the trees paralleling the runway. Witnesses reported that they heard the airplane approaching and saw the airplane in level flight for about 3–5 seconds at tree-top level, and then the airplane impacted the trees. Postaccident inspection of the airplane revealed no preimpact anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of situational awareness during the approach to an unfamiliar airport at night and his failure to maintain clearance from the trees. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of familiarity with the airplane's navigational equipment.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/14/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2151 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cincinnati |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 45226 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390612N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0842507W |
| Event Location Airport | Lunken Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LUK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 483 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LUK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 483 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26145 |
| 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 | Dec 8 2009 9:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5519W |
| NTSB Number | CEN09LA441 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 160 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-603 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2000 |
| 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 | Oct 10 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 34 |
| Airframe Hours | 4879 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JLR Flying Tigers Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6532 Covey Ct |
| Aircraft Owner City | Loveland |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45140 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Donald W. Elliott |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Loveland |
| Operator State | OH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 45140 |
| 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 | I68 |
| Departure City | Lebanon |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1815 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LUK |
| Destination City | Lunken |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 23 2009 3:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | silj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |