Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Chesapeake Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chesapeake, Virginia 23323
Monday, July 5, 2010 14:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed his home airport, in his personal airplane in visual meteorological conditions, for an undetermined purpose. Radar data indicated that the airplane orbited at low altitude over flat terrain about 6 miles north of the departure airport for about 30 minutes, before it descended to ground impact. In the minute preceding the descent, a transmission from the airplane that included the words "mayday mayday mayday" and "[I] have a flight control malfunctions looks like I'm going down" was broadcast, and the airplane transmitted the emergency transponder beacon code. Postaccident examination and testing of the airframe and engine revealed no indications of preimpact anomalies; all observed damage was consistent with ground impact. The airplane impacted a corn field in a nose-down attitude, creating an impact crater 13 inches deep. The wreckage location was adjacent to a dirt road approximately 3 miles long. About 14 months prior to the accident, the pilot was diagnosed with mild Ankylosing Spondylitis (a chronic inflammation of the spine and sacroiliac joints), but both his airline employer and the Federal Aviation Administration determined that it did not adversely affect his continued employment as an airline pilot. Post-mortem toxicology tests detected low levels of ethanol, and several intermediate compounds in the generation or metabolism of ethanol. Given the presence of putrefaction in the biological specimens, it was possible that some or all of the ethanol was produced post-mortem. The reason why the pilot declared a flight control malfunction could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The airplane's impact with terrain for undetermined reasons following the pilot's report of a flight control malfunction.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/5/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1415 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Chesapeake |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 23323 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 363421N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0762035W |
| Event Location Airport | Chesapeake Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CPK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 7 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 19 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1440 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 9 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CPK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 35 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| 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) | 30.04 |
| 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) | 28823 |
| 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 | Sep 29 2011 9:39AM |
| User who most recently changed record | andj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N52614 |
| NTSB Number | ERA10FA346 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17274563 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Jul 9 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 1655 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VAUGHN WILLIAM A |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | VIRGINIA BEACH |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 23464-5876 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | VAUGHN WILLIAM A |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | VIRGINIA BEACH |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 23464-5876 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | CPK |
| Departure City | Chesapeake |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CPK |
| Destination City | Chesapeake |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 6 2011 10:18AM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| 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 | -- |