Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Grant County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mathias, West Virginia 26812
Thursday, September 30, 2010 10:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Nearing the conclusion of a two-hour cross-country instrument flight rules flight, the pilot was flying a holding pattern around the initial approach fix, waiting for the weather conditions at the destination airport to improve. While holding, the pilot noted calm wind on the surface and wind gusts of up to 40 knots in turbulence aloft. After holding for about 15 minutes, the pilot decided to execute the instrument approach. While descending to the final approach fix, the airplane slowed, the turbulence worsened, and the autopilot disengaged. The specific reason for the autopilot disengagement was not precisely determined, although it was likely due to a very brief (unrecorded) activation of the stall warning or an inadvertent manual disengagement. After the autopilot disengaged, and following several pitch and roll oscillations, the pilot lost control of the airplane. During the resulting dive, the airplane pitched to an attitude of 86 degrees nose down, reaching a maximum airspeed of 171 knots and 3.29 g's. The pilot successfully activated the whole-airframe ballistic recovery parachute system, and the airplane subsequently descended under the parachute canopy, coming to rest about 10 nautical miles from the destination airport in a densely wooded area, suspended about 25 feet above the ground. The forecasted weather for the flight included widespread instrument meteorological conditions and turbulence above the destination airport, and an adjacent area of forecasted convective weather, temperature inversion, and associated wind shear. Weather radar imagery of the immediate area of the accident site, about the time of the accident, included areas of light to moderate intensity precipitation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's loss of control of the airplane during an instrument approach in turbulent weather conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/30/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mathias |
| Event State | WEST VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 26812 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385618N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0785652W |
| Event Location Airport | Grant County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | W99 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 10 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 963 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1051 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 88 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EKN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1987 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 34 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| 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) | 29.61 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29533 |
| 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 | Feb 16 2012 10:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N567WT |
| NTSB Number | ERA10LA506 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CIRRUS |
| Aircraft Model | SR22 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3440 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | Jul 2 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 230 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Morris Aviation LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Washington Court House |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 43160 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Morris Aviation LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Washington Court House |
| Operator State | OH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 43160 |
| 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 | I23 |
| Departure City | Wshngton Ct Hs |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 820 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | W99 |
| Destination City | Petersburg |
| Destination State | WV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 4 2012 4:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |