Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Taylorsville, Georgia 30178
Tuesady, November 1, 2011 16:42 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 70-year-old pilot and owner of the amateur-built airplane was conducting a cross-country flight in visual meteorological conditions. The airplane was at an altitude of 6,500 feet when the pilot contacted an en route air traffic control facility. The pilot was provided an altimeter setting and was instructed to remain clear of nearby Class B airspace, which he acknowledged. There were no further communications from the pilot. During the next 8 minutes, the airplane's altitude fluctuated, increasing about 500 feet, before the airplane turned to the right and entered a steep descent. The airplane impacted a field in an almost straight nose down attitude and was highly fragmented. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions. The airplane had been operated for about 50 hours since its most recent condition inspection, which was performed about 10 months before the accident.
The nature of the airplane's departure from controlled flight was consistent with the pilot becoming incapacitated. However, the pilot's son described the pilot as very active and said that he was not aware of the pilot experiencing any health issues. The pilot's health was described as "fine" by his primary care physician during an examination about 6 months before the accident. During the pilot's most recent Federal Aviation Administration medical examination about 7 months before the accident, the pilot reported a history of hypertension, which was previously reported and "well controlled" by three prescription medications that he had previously reported. The injuries sustained by the pilot precluded a determination of whether natural disease caused or contributed to the accident and death.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The airplane's entry into an uncontrolled descent for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination of the airplane and the pilot’s medical history did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/1/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1642 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Taylorsville |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30178 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340549N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0845530W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | 1653 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 70 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VPC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 759 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.26 |
| 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) | 30497 |
| 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 | Aug 29 2012 11:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N262MA |
| NTSB Number | ERA12FA057 |
| 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 | ECKENRODE CARL J |
| Aircraft Model | VANS RV-6 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20265 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 15 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 50 |
| Airframe Hours | 607 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | P-L AIR INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 SILVERSIDE RD STE 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810-4902 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | P-L AIR INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 3511 SILVERSIDE RD STE 105 |
| Operator City | WILMINGTON |
| Operator State | DE |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 19810-4902 |
| 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 | IOB |
| Departure City | Mount Sterling |
| Departure State | KY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EUF |
| Destination City | Eufaula |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2012 11:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |