Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Luce County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Newberry, Michigan 49868
Sunday, September 2, 2012 14:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot detected a “hot electrical” odor during the local flight and decided to return to the airport. While on short final, a large puff of smoke was emitted from under the right side of the instrument panel and distracted the pilot. About the same time, the airplane encountered convective turbulence so severe that the pilot hit his head on the ceiling and everything that was on the seats was thrown forward. The pilot stated that he was further distracted by the turbulence encounter, and the airplane entered a nose down attitude and impacted the terrain before the pilot could take remedial action. The airplane slid about 200 feet before coming to a stop and a postimpact fire ensued. The cause of the electrical smell and smoke could not be determined as the fuselage was consumed by the postimpact fire, which likely resulted from fuel lines being ruptured during the impact.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane due to distraction from a combination of smoke in the cockpit and a sudden turbulence encounter while on short final approach. The cause of the cockpit smoke could not be determined due to the extensive damage sustained by the airplane during the postimpact fire.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/2/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1415 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Newberry |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49868 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 461839N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0852725W |
| Event Location Airport | Luce County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KERY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| 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 | 1214 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KERY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 869 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4400 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30756 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 21 2012 2:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5981J |
| NTSB Number | CEN12TA604 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 182P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18263597 |
| 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 26 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 91 |
| Airframe Hours | 7643.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8717 N ROSCOMMON RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | ROSCOMMON |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48653-9207 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 8717 N ROSCOMMON RD |
| Operator City | ROSCOMMON |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 48653-9207 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KERY |
| Departure City | Newberry |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1257 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KERY |
| Destination City | Newberry |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 18 2012 5:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sulp |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 11 |
| Runway Length | 4304 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |