Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Vonore, Tennessee 37885
Sunday, March 23, 2014 13:38 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On March 23, 2014, about 1338 eastern daylight time (EDT), a Dehavilland DHC-1, N540FM, impacted trees and terrain near Vonore, Tennessee. The airline transport pilot was fatally injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was operated by the pilot. Day, visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from French Lick Municipal Airport (FRH), French Lick, Indiana, and was destined for Franklin County Airport (18A), Canon, Georgia.
When the pilot did not arrive at his destination, a Federal Aviation Administration Alert Notice (ALNOT) was issued. The wreckage was located during the morning of March 24, 2014. The wreckage was found on the side of a mountainous slope within the boundary of the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee, at coordinates 35.46596, -84.01032. The elevation at the accident site was about 2,222 feet above sea level. There were no known witnesses to the accident.
The wreckage was found upright, and the debris path was oriented on a heading of about 300 degrees. Damage to broken trees within the wreckage debris path was indicative of a near-level aircraft attitude at impact. There was no evidence of fire noted. The engine controls were found in the "full forward" positions. All major structural components were found within the area of the main wreckage. The right wing was severed from impact forces. The pilot was found in the cockpit and was wearing a parachute at the time of the accident; it was not deployed. The wreckage was recovered on March 31, 2014 and will be retained for examination at a later date.
Weather at Knoxville, Tennessee (TYS) near the time of the accident included scattered clouds at 1,900 feet above ground level (AGL), broken clouds at 2,800 feet AGL, and broken clouds at 5,000 feet AGL.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/23/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1338 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Vonore |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 37885 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 352757N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0840037W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1336 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 3 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TYS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 981 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | Mar 31 2014 2:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Unknown |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N540FM |
| NTSB Number | ERA14FA163 |
| 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 | DEHAVILLAND |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 189 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2099 |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| 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 | MARONEY JAMES L |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 528 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BROOKFIELD |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 530080528 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | WI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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 | FRH |
| Departure City | French Lick |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1209 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 18A |
| Destination City | Canon |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 31 2014 2:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |