Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rock Lake, North Dakota
Saturday, November 30, 2013 19:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On November 30, 2013, about 1930 central savings time, N6780F, a Piper PA-28-181, sustained substantial damage when it impacted terrain near Rock Lake, North Dakota. The private pilot and his two passengers were seriously injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot. No flight plan was filed for the flight that departed Falls International Airport (INL), International Falls, Minnesota, about 1630, and destined for Bottineau Municipal Airport (D09), Bottineau, North Dakota. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed for the personal flight conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
The pilot stated that as he approached Rolla, North Dakota, he entered IMC conditions. It was dark, so he used a flashlight to look out on to the wing where he saw "frost" building up on the gas cap. The pilot said "things got bad" and he started to lose altitude. He added power and focused on maintaing a safe airspeed and keeping the wings level. The pilot said the airplane continued to descend and he never saw the trees or ground before the impact.
The airplane came to rest on its left side in an ice-covered field. Both wings, all three landing gear, and the right horizontal stabilizer separated from the airplane. The distance from the point of initial impact to where the main fuselage slid and came to rest was about 350 feet.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/30/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1930 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Rock Lake |
| Event State | NORTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 483112N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0990712E |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | -- |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | AGL ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 10 2013 4:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| Basic weather conditions | -- |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6780F |
| NTSB Number | CEN14LA074 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA 28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 181 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7790164 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SCHEFLO STEVEN M |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BOTTINEAU |
| Aircraft Owner State | ND |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 583181726 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SCHEFLO STEVEN M |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BOTTINEAU |
| Operator State | ND |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 583181726 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | KINL |
| Departure City | International F |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | D09 |
| Destination City | Bottineau |
| Destination State | ND |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 10 2013 2:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | yeal |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | -- |
| Air Medical Flight | -- |
| Medical Flight | -- |