Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Orange Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Orange, Massachusetts 01364
Tuesady, August 10, 2010 21:11 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After servicing the airplane with fuel, the pilots departed for the second leg of a cross-country flight. According to radar data and data from an on-board handheld GPS receiver, during the initial climb, the airplane turned right to proceed on course to its destination but shortly thereafter entered a descending left turn that exhibited significant descent and heading change rates and varying groundspeeds. The airplane subsequently impacted trees about 560 feet from the airplane's final recorded position, leaving a debris path roughly consistent in direction and velocity with the airplane's last known track.
Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures. Although avian remains were recovered from the runway the airplane departed from, no evidence of a bird strike could be found anywhere on the airframe. The flight took place in the dark night, with no visible lunar illumination and no reports of any obscuring meteorological phenomena in the area, although rising wooded terrain with relatively little ground lighting was present ahead of the airplane before it entered the descending left turn. Both pilots held pilot certificates and ratings that would have allowed either of them to act as pilot-in-command of the flight, and both were found seated in front of a fully functional set of flight controls. It could not be determined which pilot was manipulating the flight controls for any portion of the accident flight. The left-seat pilot had not logged any flight experience at night within the 8 months preceding the accident and the right-seat pilot's recent flight experience could not be determined from the records provided. Neither pilot held an instrument rating. The dark night light conditions and multiple heading and altitude changes that occurred during a climbing turn are consistent with the pilots’ loss of situational awareness due to spatial disorientation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilots did not maintain control of the airplane during a flight in dark night conditions due to spatial disorientation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/10/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2111 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Orange |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 01364 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423543N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0721753W |
| Event Location Airport | Orange Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ORE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 555 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2052 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 175 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ORE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 555 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.86 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29501 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2012 1:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N21363 |
| NTSB Number | ERA10FA414 |
| 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 | 172 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17263936 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| 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 | Jun 29 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 19 |
| Airframe Hours | 3237 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jack A Johnson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ellicott City |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Jack A Johnson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Ellicott City |
| Operator State | MD |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | ORE |
| Departure City | Orange |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2110 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BHB |
| Destination City | Bar Harbor |
| Destination State | ME |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 19 2011 3:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 4801 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |