Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lebanon, Virginia 24266
Saturday, October 10, 2009 16:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he was in cruise flight at 2,500 feet when he encountered low clouds and fog. He lost visual contact with the ground and initiated a climbing left turn. Seconds later, he impacted rising terrain which resulted in substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and the empennage. Prior to the flight, the pilot obtained a weather briefing from a flight service station that forecasted overcast ceilings at 3,000 feet and 10 miles visibility near the route of flight with conditions improving throughout the day. The pilot stated that the weather at the time of the accident was approximately 5 miles visibility, with an overcast ceiling at 3,000 feet.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s decision to continue flight under visual flight rules into known deteriorating weather conditions, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/10/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lebanon |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24266 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 365837N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0814752W |
| 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 | 1603 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 207 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VJI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2087 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| 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) | 30.12 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26376 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 20 2010 2:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N43620 |
| NTSB Number | ERA10CA017 |
| 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 | PA28 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 151 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7415539 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | May 19 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 75 |
| Airframe Hours | 4727 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Gary Muzzillo |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Edgewood |
| Aircraft Owner State | KY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 41017 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Robert Lonneman |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Edgewood |
| Operator State | KY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 41017 |
| 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 | LUK |
| Departure City | Cincinnati |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 8A7 |
| Destination City | Mocksville |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 3 2009 4:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| 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 | -- |