ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 241395
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| Date: | 13-SEP-2020 |
| Time: | 12:15 |
| Type: |  Van's RV-9A |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N4889R |
| MSN: | 90421 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Steinhatchee, FL -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Gulf Shores-Edwards Airport, AL (GUF/KJKA) |
| Cross City Airport, FL (CTY/KCTY) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On September 13, 2020, about 1215 eastern daylight time (EDT), an experimental amateurbuilt Van’s RV-9A, N4889R, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Steinhatchee, Florida. The pilot and a student pilot certificated passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
The pilot was conducting an instrument flight rules cross-country flight into an area under the influence of a tropical storm, where rain showers and thunderstorms were forecast to prevail. About 1 hour and 45 minutes into the flight, the pilot requested to divert to an airport short of his destination due to weather. At that time, the tropical storm was located south of his position, with bands of rain showers and thunderstorms rotating counter-clockwise around it. The air traffic controller cleared the pilot for the approach; however, she did not provide any weather information to the pilot, to include the local altimeter setting, radar-depicted precipitation, weather advisories, or current destination weather as required by air traffic control directives. The pilot subsequently turned into an area of spiral rain bands, which was growing in size and intensity. The growing area of rain showers and thunderstorms was very unstable, with the potential for updrafts of about 12,000 ft/min. Radar and radio contact was subsequently lost, and wreckage of the airplane was located in the Gulf of Mexico, about 1 nautical mile offshore. Distribution of the wreckage and subsequent evidence observed during the postaccident wreckage examination were indicative of an in-flight breakup.
The pilot’s decision to initiate a flight into an area under the influence of a tropical storm, with forecast rain showers and thunderstorms, increased the potential for an encounter with significant convective weather. Given this information it is likely that the flight encountered strong updrafts while in the growing rain shower band and in instrument meteorological conditions, which ultimately resulted in a loss of control and an in-flight breakup. Had the pilot been provided timely information on the hazardous weather conditions, it is likely that the accident could have been prevented.
Probable Cause: The failure of the air traffic controller to provide hazardous weather information to the pilot, resulting in the flight’s encounter with strong updraft conditions, an inflight loss of airplane control, and an in-flight breakup. Contributing was the pilot’s decision to initiate a flight into an area under the influence of a tropical storm, with forecast rain showers and thunderstorms, which increased the potential for an encounter with significant convective weather.
Sources:
NTSB
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N4889R
https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=4889R
https://myflightbook.com/logbook/public/ViewPic.aspx?r=Aircraft&k=205718&t=t_2020071509051426-8497281_.jpg (photo)
Accident investigation:
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Location
Media:
NTSB is investigating the September 13, 2020 crash in Steinhatchee, FL involving a Vans RV-9A aircraft. The NTSB is not traveling to the scene of the crash at this time.
— NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) September 14, 2020
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 14-Sep-2020 04:12 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 14-Sep-2020 06:02 | Geno | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 14-Sep-2020 06:38 | Anon. | Updated [Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 14-Sep-2020 06:38 | harro | Updated [Narrative] |
| 14-Sep-2020 15:22 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 14-Sep-2020 16:17 | Geno | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source] |
| 14-Sep-2020 18:59 | Captain Adam | Updated [Narrative] |
| 16-Sep-2020 06:19 | Anon. | Updated [Source] |
| 04-Sep-2022 23:09 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Source, Damage, Narrative, Category, Accident report] |
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