Beechcraft 58P N48TS

Summary

On 6 January 2011 at about 00:46 local time, a Beechcraft 58P registered N48TS, operated by William E Scott, was involved in an accident near Birmingham, Alabama, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 January 2011 at 00:46

Classification

Accident

Location

Birmingham, Alabama, United States

Nearest airport

Birmingham (BHM)

Coordinates

33.5692, -86.7333

Aircraft

Beechcraft 58P

Registration

N48TS

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

William E Scott

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Morristown → Alabaster

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA11FA107

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during an instrument approach due to spatial disorientation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the approximately 5 hour and 25 minute night instrument cross-country flight in a multi-engine airplane, the pilot elected not to stop at his planned fuel stop. Upon reaching the destination airport, the weather conditions included an overcast ceiling at 300 feet and 2 miles visibility in drizzle, which were worse than the forecast conditions of overcast ceiling at 1,000 feet and 6 miles visibility. The pilot diverted to his planned alternate airport and attempted an instrument landing system approach. Given the lack of a fuel stop, the pilot may have felt personal pressure to land the airplane as soon as possible. The airplane initially intercepted the localizer for the approach, but did not intercept the glideslope. The airplane then proceeded left of course, above the glideslope, followed by a continued left deviation and descent below the glideslope. The tower controller asked the pilot if he was still on the localizer course and the pilot replied that he was not. The tower controller then provided heading and altitude instructions in an attempt to guide the pilot onto a missed approach. The pilot acknowledged the heading instruction, but failed to turn to the assigned heading or climb to the assigned altitude. The airplane subsequently impacted a residential area about 1/2 mile from the runway. The pilot's logbook was not recovered and a determination of his flight experience in actual instrument conditions could not be made. According to a flight instructor, the pilot had owned the accident airplane for about 6 months and had 80 to 90 hours in the make and model. The pilot completed an instrument proficiency check with the instructor about 1 month prior to the accident. The instruction included many instrument approaches and missed approach procedures. Additionally, the flight instructor concentrated on attitude flying, which was not the pilot's strongest skill. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions. If neither horizon nor surface references exist, the attitude of an airplane must be determined by artificial means from the flight instruments. However, during periods of low visibility, the supporting senses sometimes conflict with what is seen; when this happens, a pilot is particularly vulnerable to disorientation. Postmortem toxicology testing noted findings consistent with marijuana use; however, no blood was available for toxicological testing and it was not possible to reliably estimate when the marijuana may have most recently been used or whether the pilot may have been impaired by such use.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.