Cessna 172S N5194X

Summary

On 5 November 2009 at about 00:20 local time, a Cessna 172S registered N5194X, operated by Eagle Air Corp, was involved in an accident near Tallahassee, Florida, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 November 2009 at 00:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Tallahassee, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Tallahassee Regional Airport (TLH)

Coordinates

30.3964, -84.3503

Aircraft

Cessna 172S

Registration

N5194X

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Eagle Air Corp

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tallahassee → Tallahassee

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA10FA048

2 people died.

The pilots' spatial disorientation during flight in dark conditions, which resulted in an uncontrolled descent into terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane departed and climbed straight ahead to an altitude of about 600 feet before it began a left turn to the crosswind leg of the traffic pattern. It continued on a flight path toward hundreds of square miles of unlit, national forest land with the moon just above the horizon and behind the airplane. The airplane reached an altitude of about 1,000 feet as it turned from the crosswind leg to the downwind leg, and then descended in a continuous left arc toward the airport. The air traffic tower controller perceived the descent immediately and transmitted the airplane's registration number over the radio. One of the pilots responded by restating the number in business-like tone and there were no further communications from either pilot. Examination of the trees and airplane damage along the wreckage path was consistent with a shallow, wings-level, high-speed descent that suggested either one or both pilots nearly recovered control of the airplane during the last several seconds of descent to ground contact. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Federal Aviation Administration guidance indicates that spatial disorientation can occur when there is no natural horizon or surface reference, such as a night flight in sparsely populated areas similar to that of the accident conditions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.