Piper PA-28-181 N6076H

Summary

On 13 June 2010 at about 14:30 local time, a Piper PA-28-181 registered N6076H, operated by Michael Hunt, was involved in an accident near Umpire, Arkansas, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 June 2010 at 14:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Umpire, Arkansas, United States

Coordinates

34.2500, -94.1667

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-181

Registration

N6076H

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Michael Hunt

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

De Queen → Lakeview

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN10FA316

4 people died.

The pilot’s continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to a witness, the non-instrument-rated pilot departed when the weather was overcast at 3,000 feet and the surrounding mountain ridges were obscured. An airport located about 32 miles north of the departure airport, in the direction of travel, was reporting slightly lower ceilings. The pilot requested winds aloft for 3,000 and 6,000 feet, stating, “I need to be at about fifty five hundred probably to be safe,” adding “there’s some three thousand foot tops of some...terrain there in places.” He was likely referring to a mountain range that he would have been approaching about the time of the accident. Thus, the pilot likely intended to climb above the altitude of the reported cloud base, and, therefore, he most likely did enter the clouds. No radar data was available for the flight, and there were no eyewitnesses to the accident; however, a witness reported hearing a low flying airplane followed by the sound of an impact. A postaccident examination revealed that the left wing spar had fractured in upward bending as a result of overload; the bottom cap failed in tension. The examination did not disclose any preimpact mechanical problems with the airplane. Federal Aviation Administration guidance indicates that if neither horizon nor surface references exist, the attitude of an airplane must be determined by artificial means from the flight instruments. Further, during periods of low visibility, the supporting senses sometimes conflict with what is seen; when this happens, a pilot is particularly vulnerable to disorientation. The pilot did not possess an instrument rating, which, coupled with the low visibility as he entered the clouds, would have made him vulnerable to spatial disorientation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.