Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lake Havasu City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lake Havasu City, Arizona 86404
Sunday, November 6, 2011 18:53 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The non-instrument rated pilot was flying home after watching a football game. Because the game continued into overtime, the flight home occurred later than the pilot expected and involved flying at night. The pilot had obtained a weather briefing earlier that morning and was aware that a storm was due to arrive in the area about the time the return flight took place. At the time of the accident, visual meteorological weather conditions existed at all area airports; however, it was raining and clouds were present at the pilot’s intended cruise altitude during portions of the return flight.
According to global positioning system data, the flight appeared to progress normally until about halfway along the planned route when the airplane suddenly descended about 1,000 feet, presumably to avoid clouds. A short time later, the airplane began a series of altitude and airspeed oscillations, which ultimately resulted in a rapidly descending turn into terrain. The debris field length and orientation were consistent with a loss of airplane control, with the airplane striking the ground inverted and at high speed. All sections of the airplane were accounted for at the accident site, and postaccident examination did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
The pilot had flown the same route at night on four previous occasions, the most recent of which was 2 weeks before the accident; however, clear skies and unlimited visibilities existed for each of the previous flights. According to weather data, on the night of the accident, the moon was obscured by cloud, and therefore would have provided no visual reference. In addition, most of the accident flight occurred over uninhabited desert terrain, so limited ground references would have been available.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's continued cruise flight into cloudy conditions at night, which resulted in a loss of airplane control due to spatial disorientation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/6/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1853 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Lake Havasu City |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86404 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 342005n |
| Event Location Longitude | 1134316w |
| Event Location Airport | Lake Havasu City |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HII |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 40 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 783 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1901 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IGM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3449 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 66 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2300 |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| 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) | 29.95 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30496 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA LAX ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 11 2012 3:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4701N |
| NTSB Number | WPR12FA031 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 182Q |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18267292 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 22 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 10714 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BRANDON FASCHING |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LAKE HAVASU CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 86406-8011 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Donald J Mesisca |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Lake Havasu City |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 86406 |
| 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 | GEU |
| Departure City | Glendale |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HII |
| Destination City | Lake Havasu |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 11 2012 3:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |