Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pittsfield, Illinois 62363
Friday, July 30, 2010 15:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-instrument-rated pilot was on a cross-country flight when he encountered deteriorating weather conditions. The pilot was receiving flight following from air traffic control and, after discussing the weather conditions, he advised the controller that he was going to divert to a nearby airport. While en route to the airport, the airplane encountered increasingly lower cloud ceilings and the pilot elected to perform a precautionary off-field landing onto a county road. During the landing rollout the right main landing gear departed the road and the airplane subsequently impacted a ditch alongside the road. The primary fuselage structure and both wings were substantially damaged during the accident. A nearby airport weather observation station reported scattered clouds between 700 and 1,500 feet, an overcast ceiling at 2,100 feet, and a 5-mile ground visibility with drizzle.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of directional control during a precautionary off-field landing that he performed after encountering deteriorating weather conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/30/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Pittsfield |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 62363 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 393820N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0904642W |
| 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 | 1524 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPPQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 710 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KPPQ 302024Z AUTO 11006KT 5SM DZ SCT007 SCT015 OVC |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27925 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA - Springfield FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2011 2:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N17MX |
| NTSB Number | CEN10CA452 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Maule |
| Aircraft Model | MX-7-180A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20043C |
| 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 | Mar 3 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1821.6 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jesse R. Moats |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 290 Maple Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Riverton |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 62561-6076 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Jesse R. Moats |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 290 Maple Street |
| Operator City | Riverton |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 62561-6076 |
| 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 | KDDC |
| Departure City | Dodge City |
| Departure State | KS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KSPI |
| Destination City | Springfield |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 6 2011 5:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| 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 | -- |