Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pellston Rgnl Of Emmet Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pellston, Michigan 49769
Tuesady, January 15, 2013 20:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot landed at the airport to refuel the airplane and pick up cargo. The pilot spoke with three employees of the fixed base operator who stated that he seemed alert and awake but wanted to make a "quick turn." After the airplane was fueled and the cargo was loaded, the pilot departed; the airplane crashed 1 minute later. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. An aircraft performance GPS and simulation study indicated that the airplane entered a right bank almost immediately after takeoff and then made a 42 degree right turn and that it was accelerating throughout the flight, from about 75 knots groundspeed shortly after liftoff to about 145 knots groundspeed at impact. The airplane was climbing about 500 to 700 feet per minute to a peak altitude of about 260 feet above the ground before descending. The simulation showed a gas generator speed of about 93 percent throughout the flight. The study indicated that the load factor vectors, which were the forces felt by the pilot, could have produced a somatogravic illusion of a climb, even while the airplane was descending. The postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Based on the findings from the aircraft performance GPS and simulation study, the degraded visual reference conditions present about the time of the accident, and the forces felt by the pilot, it is likely that he experienced spatial disorientation, which led to his inadvertent controlled descent into terrain.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadvertent controlled descent into terrain due to spatial disorientation. Contributing to the accident was lack of visual reference due to night conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/15/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2000 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Pellston |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49769 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 453348N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0844934W |
| Event Location Airport | PELLSTON RGNL AIRPORT OF EMMET |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PLN |
| 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 | 250 |
| Airport Elevation | 720 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2354 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PLN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 721 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| 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) | -3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 16 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KPLN 152354Z AUTO 21010G16KT 10SM BKN036 BKN |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| 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) | 32253 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Central ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 1 2013 10:23AM |
| User who most recently changed record | linj-i |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1120N |
| NTSB Number | CEN13FA135 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 208B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 208B0386 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 8785 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 0 |
| Passenger Seats | 0 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 31 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 10132 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AERO LEASING |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 868 JENNIFER ST |
| Aircraft Owner City | INCLINE VILLAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89451-8639 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Martinaire Aviation, L.L.C. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4745 Frank Luke Drive |
| Operator City | Addison |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 75001 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PLN |
| Departure City | Pellston |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Lansing |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 22 2014 2:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 5401 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |