Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
South Arkansas Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
El Dorado, Arkansas 71730
Thursday, August 19, 2010 20:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot was on a 968-mile cross-country flight and stopped at an airport to purchase fuel before departing on the final leg of the trip. A witness talked to the pilot on the radio as he approached the airport and again after he landed. She stated that the pilot acted confused, appeared tired, and that he even commented on how tired he was from flying all day. After refueling, the pilot had to wait approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes for storms to move through the area. It was then dark outside and, by the time the pilot departed, he had been traveling for almost 12 hours. A witness saw the airplane take off and said it used very little runway before it climbed to 300 or 400 feet before making a left turn. The witness stated that the engine appeared to be producing takeoff power and that everything sounded normal. The airplane was later reported missing and found four days later in a heavily wooded area about 500 feet west of the runway. An on-scene examination revealed no preaccident anomalies with the engine or the airplane. A review of the pilot's logbook revealed that he had accrued a total of 274.5 hours, of which, 5.5 hours were at night. The pilot's last logged flight at night (.7 hours) was almost exactly one year prior to the accident. Positive postaccident toxicology tests were likely due to post-mortem putrefaction, although insufficient specimens existed to determine conclusively.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance with trees on takeoff at night. Contributing factors were fatigue and the pilot's lack of recent nighttime experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/19/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2045 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | El Dorado |
| Event State | ARKANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 71730 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 331309N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0924828W |
| Event Location Airport | South Arkansas Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ELD |
| 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 | 277 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2053 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ELD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 277 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| 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) | 29.88 |
| 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) | 28830 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SWR ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 22 2011 10:28AM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N474JM |
| NTSB Number | CEN10LA497 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MILLER CHARLES W |
| Aircraft Model | VANS RV-7A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 71408 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MILLER CHARLES W |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 513 W ESPARADA DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | GEORGETOWN |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78628-1350 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | MILLER CHARLES W |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 513 W ESPARADA DR |
| Operator City | GEORGETOWN |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 78628-1350 |
| 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 | ELD |
| Departure City | Eldorado |
| Departure State | AR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2045 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GTU |
| Destination City | Georgetown |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 9 2011 3:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bakd |
| 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 | -- |