20051127030259A

(-23) On November 28, 2005, at 0910, privacy data omitted of macon automated services contacted the atlanta FSDO and stated that at 0900 he received a report of an aircraft accident from union county 911. Their preliminary report was that an individual had walked out of the forest at vogel state park at approximately 0830 on Monday, November 28, 2005, stating that he had crashed his aircraft sometime on Sunday, November 27, 2005, and had been trying to find his way out of the woods since that time. He also reported that his wife was still in the woods and he thought she might have been thrown from the aircraft during impact. The individual was transported to northeast Georgia medical center in gainsville, Georgia, for treatment. Inspector privacy data omitted from the atlanta flight standards district office (FSDO) contacted privacy data omitted at the atlanta control center and requested a line of communication with the national transportation safety board (NTSB). privacy data omitted Was the NTSB investigator who took the call. A conference call was then established between the atlanta control center, the NTSB, the atlanta FSDO, and privacy data omitted of the union county commissioner's office who was at the command and control center at vogel state park. privacy data omitted Reiterated the earlier report and said that the aircraft had not been located up to that point but that first response teams were being dispatched. He then stated that it was unknown whether the individual being transported to north Georgia medical center was the pilot of the aircraft but that they would radio ahead to the ambulance to see if the pilot was coherent. Medical personnel then relayed that the individual's name was privacy data omitted and that he was the pilot and owner of the aircraft. At that time, he told medical personnel that he had left andrews-murphy airport (rhp), andrews, north carolina, enroute to metter municipal airport (mhp), metter, Georgia. He further reported to the medical personnel that at the time of the accident the wing of the aircraft was torn off on impact and he didn't know where his wife was but he thought she might have been thrown from the aircraft. Investigator ^priva^ then requested that the atlanta control center connect with the airport manager at andrews-murphy airport to collect any information they may have on the flight. The airport manager, privacy data omitted stated that lineman privacy data omitted had serviced the aircraft on Saturday and may have details of the event. privacy data omitted Was then contacted during the conference call and interviewed by investigator ^priva^ and inspector privacy data omitted. privacy data omitted Stated he works part time at andrews-murphy airport, andrews, north carolina, as a lineman. The pilot of N6485R and his wife arrived at the airport on Saturday, November 26, 2005, at about 1200 EST. The pilot requested a top off on fuel and contracted a rental car. The couple spent the night at a local hotel and returned to the airport on Sunday, November 27, 2005, at about 0900 EST. The pilot was concerned about the weather in the local area. It was very cloudy and patches of the clouds were obscuring the mountaintops. The pilot and his wife departed the airport by automobile and returned before 1300 EST. The pilot and his wife departed the airport in N6485R at about 1300 EST. The pilot was in the left front seat and his wife was in the right front seat. The pilot and his wife returned to the airport about 30 minutes later stating he could not get over the mountains due to the weather. The pilot and his wife remained at the airport, periodically checking the local forecast, and departed again in N6485R at about 1530 EST. The lineman stated there appeared to be a slight break in the weather when the pilot departed. When they did not return he determined they had made it over the mountain. When questioned, privacy data omitted stated the pilot had been checking the AWOS for weather updates off and on before leaving the airport both times. At this point in the conference call, privacy data omitted of the usda forest service joined in on the conference call from the vogel park command and control center with a report that the aircraft had been located approximately 11 miles south of Blairsville, Georgia, in a wilderness area adjacent to vogel state park and a half-mile west of highway 19/129 at coordinates N34 44 56, W83 56 14. They also reported that the aircraft had sustained heavy fire damage and the wife's body was found strapped into the passenger seat. The control center routed the conference call to the charge nurse at northeast Georgia medical center. She indicated that the pilot privacy data omitted was going in for testing and would be available in thirty minutes. On the second attempt, the pilot privacy data omitted came to the phone and agreed to be interviewed. He then stated he is a private pilot with an airplane single engine land rating, and he is the registered owner of N6485R, a Piper PA-28-140. The pilot privacy data omitted stated he and his wife arrived at rhp on November 26, 2005, around 1200 EST. Upon landing, he ordered the airplane to be topped off with 100 low lead fuel and rented a car from the fixed base operator. He and his wife obtained a hotel room and spend the night. The pilot privacy data omitted stated he and his wife returned to the airport the next morning, November 27, 2005. He obtained local weather information from the computer on AWOS for a VFR flight from rhp to mhp. The pilot privacy data omitted stated he was concerned about the weather obscuring the mountaintops along his route of flight. After obtaining the local weather information, he decided to delay the flight. He and his wife drove around the local area. They returned to the airport again, and he checked the AWOS weather and decided to try to go to mhp. He did not file a flight plan. They departed the airport around 1300 and encountered some weather, which did not permit VFR over the mountains. They returned back to rhp. He and his wife remained at the airport. The pilot privacy data omitted stated the weather appeared to have improved, and he and his wife departed at about 1530 EST. He took off and encountered a cloud while attempting to climb over the mountains. The base of the cloud was around 2000 feet, and he was trying to climb around the cloud at 3,500 feet to clear a ridgeline to his front. The climb was slow due to the loaded condition of the aircraft. The pilot privacy data omitted stated he had burned 30 minutes out of the fuel tank, he weighed 200 pounds, his wife weighed 180 pounds, and they had approximately 40 pounds of baggage. Because of these conditions and the surrounding terrain, there was not enough room to get the aircraft turned around. Right before the airplane collided with the trees on the ridgeline in a climb attitude, the stall warning light was flickering. The airplane hit the trees and flipped upside down. The next thing he remembered, he was unbuckling his seatbelt and falling to the ground into fire and molten plastic. He got out of the fire and went around to the right side of the airplane to open the door to assist his wife. While opening the door, the airplane exploded. He walked all night trying to find help. He eventually came upon a group of campers and was later transported to a local area hospital. When asked, the pilot privacy data omitted stated that he had not been experiencing any mechanical problems with the aircraft during the flight. The call was then concluded. Arrangements were made to meet vogel state park's assistant manager, privacy data omitted, at 0930 on November 28, 2005, to travel to the accident site. In order to access the accident scene it was necessary to drive a short distance into the forest utilizing a 4-wheel-drive vehicle. Then travel gradually uphill on foot, approximately one mile further, into the blood mountain forest wilderness area until coming to the base of a steep incline rising at approximately a 45 degree angle. It was then necessary to traverse this hillside until coming to the wreckage, which was at an elevation of approximately 3200 feet and a distance of approximately 1,261 feet below the mountain peak of 4,461 feet. Upon investigating the site, the burned remains of the hull, with the empennage intact, was found lying on the left side pointing in an upward, southwest direction. The cabin area was consumed by fire from the firewall aft to the baggage compartment. The noise section of the fuselage sustained fire damage and separated the aircraft from the firewall forward as a complete assembly. This assembly was displaced slightly to the right of the forward direction of the fuselage with the engine still attached to the structural engine mounts, the nose landing gear still attached to the airframe attachment points, and the propeller still attached to the flange of the engine crankshaft. The aft empennage was intact and took fire damage. The vertical stabilizer and rudder assembly were not damaged. The stabilator remained attached to the fuselage, however, the left side was bent downward 10 degrees and the leading edge was heavily buckled. The left wing was separated from the fuselage at the wing root and lay in one piece twenty feet behind and to the left of the fuselage. The aileron and flap were intact and the main gear strut was broken off at the wing attachment point. The inboard section of the wing sustained heavy fire and structural damage at the leading edge inboard and outboard of the main gear where the wing fuel cells are located. Flap extension and aileron position were inconclusive because the fuselage center section containing the flight control rods and cables was destroyed by fire. There was no fire damage to the two right wing sections, which were both found thirty yards downhill from the fuselage wreckage. A semi-circular indentation on the leading edge, at a wing station in line with the inboard edge of the aileron, marked the area of severe impact where the outboard section was torn from the wing before hitting the ground. The leading edge of the inboard wing was heavily damaged inboard of the main gear strut, which was still intact. Damage to the forest canopy along the flight path was light, with no distinguishable path through the trees, and showed signs that the aircraft struck the trees at a steep angle of descent. When asked on November 28, 2005, about the location of the aircraft maintenace records, the pilot privacy data omitted stated that they were either on the back seat of the aircraft at the time of the accident or in hangar 5 at mhp. After an extensive search of the aircraft wreckage, at the site of the accident, on November 29, 2005, the records were not found. Afterward, the aircraft was removed from the site of the accident and taken to atlanta air salvage. privacy data omitted Ofatlanta air salvage was contacted and asked if any trace of the aircraft maintenance records had been found when the aircraft was moved. He stated that nothing had been found. On December 6, 2005, the pilot privacy data omitted was contacted at doctor's hospital in augusta, Georgia, and asked if there was a point of contact at mhp who could check on the location of the aircraft maintenance records for N6485R. He stated that privacy data omitted an A&P mechanic at mhp, handled all of the aircraft's maintenance and would be able to check to see if the records were in hangar 5. privacy data omitted Was contacted and asked to do a search of hangar 5. privacy data omitted Was unable to find the maintenance records. Therefore, the aircraft maintenance records have not been available for review, and it must be concluded that they were in the aircraft at the time of the accident and destroyed by fire.