ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 184132
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| Date: | Monday 1 February 2016 |
| Time: | 19:45 |
| Type: |  Cessna 182T Skylane |
| Owner/operator: | Civil Air Patrol |
| Registration: | N784CP |
| MSN: | 18281784 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2006 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2082 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming IO-540-AB1A5 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | SSW of Mobile Airport, AL -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Gonzales, LA (L38) |
| Mobile Downtown Airport, AL (BFM/KBFM) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The airline transport pilot and non-instrument-rated private pilot were conducting a three-leg Civil Air Patrol (CAP) "compassion flight" to transport a passenger from Florida to Louisiana. The pilots departed the CAP squadron's home base in Alabama and flew to Florida, where they encountered a 2 1/2-hour delay while waiting for the passenger to arrive. After picking up the passenger, they subsequently transported her to her destination in Louisiana. The pilots then departed on the 1-hour return flight in dark night conditions to their home base, where a squadron meeting was scheduled for that evening. All three flights were conducted under instrument flight rules (IFR).
During the accident flight, the weather at the destination airport deteriorated from visual meteorological conditions to instrument meteorological conditions, with low cloud ceilings, reduced visibility, and fog; these conditions had been forecasted to develop. The mission pilot should have been aware of both the forecast and actual weather conditions, as he had received an electronic weather briefing, filed an IFR flight plan, and had filed an alternate destination in the event of poor weather at the intended destination. However, the airport the pilot selected as an alternate was located only 10 nautical miles northwest of the destination airport and was affected by the same weather conditions; both airports reported 1/2 statute miles visibility and vertical visibility about 200 ft about the time of the accident.
As the flight approached the destination, the pilot elected to divert to the alternate airport and received vectors for an instrument landing system (ILS) precision approach. The investigation was unable to determine why the pilot chose to divert. About 300 ft agl (100 ft above the decision height where the runway environment must be visible), the pilot initiated a missed approach procedure. Radar data showed that, rather than completing the prescribed climb to 2,000 ft on runway heading, the airplane entered a shallow right turn and continued to descend until radar contact was lost. The airplane impacted trees and terrain and was destroyed by a postcrash fire. Examination of the airplane and its systems identified no engine, airframe, or avionics anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Additionally, no medical factors were identified that could explain the sequence of events.
Probable Cause: The pilot's loss of airplane control during a missed approach in instrument meteorological conditions due to spatial disorientation. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's inadequate preflight and inflight weather planning which resulted the pilot's selection of an unsuitable alternate airport, and the Civil Air Patrol's inadequate flight release procedures and inadequate oversight of the flight.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
Location
Images:
Photo: NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Feb-2016 05:19 | Geno | Added |
| 02-Feb-2016 11:25 | gerard57 | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Source, Narrative] |
| 02-Feb-2016 16:51 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Source] |
| 02-Feb-2016 17:54 | labdad | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Source] |
| 02-Feb-2016 18:58 | RobertMB | Updated [Cn] |
| 02-Feb-2016 19:01 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 16-Apr-2018 19:29 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Cn, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 16-Apr-2018 19:49 | harro | Updated [Narrative, Photo, ] |
| 31-May-2023 13:38 | Ron Averes | Updated [[Narrative, Photo, ]] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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