Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Harnett Regional Jetport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Erwin, North Carolina 28339
Wednesday, July 20, 2011 22:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About 20 minutes after departing on a visual flight rules cross-country flight, the pilot ceased responding to air traffic controllers after being advised to contact the next air traffic control facility. Controllers continued to track the airplane as it flew toward the stated destination airport and then turned toward the airport adjacent to the accident site. The airplane arrived in the vicinity of the airport nearly 1 hour after the end of civil twilight and began maneuvering in the vicinity of the approach end of one of the runways. After performing two 180-degree turns, the airplane entered a steep, descending right turn toward the runway's final approach course. The airplane impacted trees about 1/2 mile from the runway threshold, and the wreckage path roughly aligned with the runway's final approach course. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures. The airplane's audio panel microphone selector was found set to a position that would not have allowed the pilot to communicate with controllers or to activate the airport's pilot-controlled runway lighting. A pilot who flew into the airport later that night described that area as a very disorienting "black hole" due to the lack of ground lighting at night.
The maneuvering observed as the airplane arrived in the vicinity of the airport suggested that the pilot may have been attempting to activate the airport's pilot-controlled lighting and locate the runway. The pilot was likely unable to activate the lighting due to an inadvertent misconfiguration of the audio panel earlier in the flight. After flying through the final approach course twice, the pilot may have elected to attempt to locate the unlit runway using the airplane's landing light, the airplane's onboard global positioning system receivers, and/or the airport's precision approach path indicator lights as a guide. However, as he turned the airplane toward the dark area located southwest of the runway threshold, he likely experienced spatial disorientation, lost awareness of the airplane's attitude, and allowed it to enter a right descending spiral, which continued to impact.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s loss of control due to spatial disorientation while maneuvering in dark night conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/20/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2245 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Erwin |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28339 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 352202N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0784444W |
| Event Location Airport | Harnett Regional Jetport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HRJ |
| 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 | 202 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2115 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FBG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 244 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| 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) | 29.85 |
| 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) | 29927 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 20 2012 7:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | snyg |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N23739 |
| NTSB Number | ERA11FA412 |
| 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 | 182S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18280457 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAMS BENNIE D |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 390 Comanche Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Erwin |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 28339 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | WILLIAMS BENNIE D |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 390 Comanche Dr. |
| Operator City | Erwin |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 28339 |
| 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 | MEI |
| Departure City | Meridian |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1624 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | HRJ |
| Destination City | Erwin |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 18 2012 1:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 05 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |