Eastern Iowa Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Saturday, January 16, 2010 19:40 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot's original destination was below weather minimums so he diverted to another airport. He flew the approach to runway 9 with one receiver/navigational unit tuned to the global positioning system (GPS) approach and one tuned to the instrument landing system (ILS) approach. He reported that he began getting conflicting information between the GPSs so he executed a missed approach. The pilot reported that during the second approach he had trouble maintaining the glideslope and he had to keep adding power to maintain a proper descent rate. He then received erratic information and needle oscillations on both glideslope indicators. The pilot stated that he was at full power, so he did not have additional power in order to climb for a missed approach. The pilot believes that the left wing stalled about 600 feet above the ground. He stated that he was in “some kind of spin” or unusual attitude with the “nose slightly downward and tilted slightly to the left.” The pilot reported that the last memory he has prior to impact was pulling up. The airplane impacted the terrain in an open field, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing. Radar data indicated that from the time the airplane was established on the approach up until the last minute of data available, the aircraft’s ground track varied from 97 degrees to 70 degrees, with a descent rate of approximately 500 feet per minute. The airplane’s rate of descent during the last 46 seconds of radar data increased to about 800 feet per minute and the heading changed from 95 degrees to 119 degrees, then to 13 degrees. The approaches were checked after the accident with no anomalies found. The pilot received his instrument rating two weeks prior to the accident. He reported having about 5 hours of actual instrument flight time and about 72 hours of simulated instrument flight time.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control while flying an instrument approach. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in actual instrument conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/16/2010
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1940
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Cedar Rapids
Event State IOWA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 52401
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 415305N
Event Location Longitude 0914239W
Event Location Airport Eastern Iowa
Event Location Nearest Airport ID CID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 270
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1952 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID CID
Elevation of weather observation facility 869
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 200
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) 3
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -4
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 170
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.03
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) 26667
NTSB Notification Source FAA-DSM-FSDO
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 2 2010 11:41AM
User who most recently changed record bowl
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N53120
NTSB Number CEN10LA103
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 177RG
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 177RG1349
Certified Max Gross Weight 2450
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 12 2009 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 4666
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name FISHER PHILIP
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City BARBOURSVILLE
Aircraft Owner State WV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 25504-9432
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name FISHER PHILIP
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City BARBOURSVILLE
Operator State WV
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 25504-9432
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code I69
Departure City Batavia
Departure State OH
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1705
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code CID
Destination City Cedar Rapids
Destination State IA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 17 2010 6:15PM
User who most recently changed record sulp
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --