Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
None Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Elk Creek, Virginia 24326
Saturday, July 31, 2010 11:12 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the student pilot/owner, when he initially checked the weather 2 hours before takeoff, his intended route of flight was “cloudy,” but reporting visual meteorological conditions. After the student pilot and his passenger arrived at the airport, the student pilot checked the weather again and decided to fly southeast before proceeding direct to the destination through better weather conditions. After the student pilot took off, he requested flight following and informed an air traffic controller of his intended route of flight. The controller advised the student pilot of possible rain en route, and recommended that he modify his route of flight to proceed direct to his destination. The student pilot accepted the controller’s advice and found the first 45 minutes of flight to be “fine,” but the weather worsened. The student pilot flew into clouds "briefly" twice, but maneuvered the airplane back into visual conditions. He then asked air traffic control for advice, but all the suggestions “yielded no relief.” Shortly thereafter, the student pilot declared an emergency and decided to make an emergency landing to a field. The student pilot “dropped the plane down on the mains as firmly as possible, and [it] bounced and went airborne again.” The airplane traveled down the field, hit the top of a fence and continued up a hill, where it finally came to rest. The airplane incurred substantial damage to the forward section of the fuselage and the right wing root. The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies with the airplane. The weather reported at an airport about 15 miles east, about the time of the accident, included broken clouds at 500 feet; broken clouds at 900 feet; overcast clouds at 1,400 feet; and light rain. The student pilot reported 170 hours of total flight time.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The student pilot’s continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in an off-airport landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/31/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1112 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Elk Creek |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24326 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 364556N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0811943W |
| Event Location Airport | NONE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | 1142 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 70 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HLX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2693 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27427 |
| 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 5 2010 7:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coxp |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N172FL |
| NTSB Number | ERA10CA392 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17269187 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DOYLE PAUL J |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 952 CHIPPENDALE TRL SW |
| Aircraft Owner City | MARIETTA |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30064-5412 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | DOYLE PAUL J |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 952 CHIPPENDALE TRL SW |
| Operator City | MARIETTA |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 30064-5412 |
| 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 | BCB |
| Departure City | Blacksburg |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VPC |
| Destination City | Cartersville |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 25 2010 2:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| 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 | -- |