Moravan ZLIN Z50 LA N6660B

Summary

On 20 December 1995 at about 18:22 local time, a Moravan ZLIN Z50 LA registered N6660B, operated by John W. Griffey, was involved in an accident near Springfield, Tennessee, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 December 1995 at 18:22

Classification

Accident

Location

Springfield, Tennessee, United States

Coordinates

36.4891, -86.8699

Aircraft

Moravan ZLIN Z50 LA

Registration

N6660B

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

John W. Griffey

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Clarksville

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL96LA025

1 person died.

the pilot's failure to maintain control of the aircraft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses in the area stated that, at about 1215, they heard the airplane overhead for several moments. The airplane engine sounded as though the airplane were slowing down and then speeding up during this time, but the witnesses did not see the airplane. They later observed the airplane disappear into a valley in a near vertical dive. The airplane impacted the terrain about 5 miles northwest of the departure airfield in a near vertical attitude. There was continuity of the aircraft flight controls. The medical examiner did not note any irregularities in the autopsy report that might have resulted in pilot incapacitation. The pilot's flight logbook did not show any evidence of prior experience in the Zlin Z50 LA.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.