Accident Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster N76U,

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 322965

Date:	Wednesday 23 October 2002
Time:	19:45
Type:	Cessna 208B Super Cargomaster
Owner/operator:	Mid-Atlantic Freight
Registration:	N76U
MSN:	208B0775
Year of manufacture:	1999
Total airframe hrs:	4001 hours
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	8 km NW of Spanish Fort, AL - United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Cargo
Departure airport:	Mobile Aerospace Field, AL (BFM/KBFM)
Destination airport:	Montgomery-Dannelly Field, AL (MGM/KMGM)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
The Cessna, carrying bank checks, departed Mobile (BFM) at 19:40 on an instrument flight to Montgomery (MGM). At an altitude of 3000 feet the pilot was given a traffic advisory by air traffic control. The pilot reported that the traffic, a FedEx DC-10, was above him. At the time the pilot stated that he needed to deviate, data indicate that the accident airplane was in or entering an uncontrolled descent. The airplane appeared to have nearly recovered from extreme attitudes as it impacted the swampy water in the Big Bateau Bay.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The pilot's spatial disorientation, which resulted in loss of airplane control. Contributing to the accident was the night instrument meteorological conditions with variable cloud layers."

Accident investigation: