# Accident 20200208010329A: Cessna 501, Fairmount, GA, February 8, 2020

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: February 8, 2020, 10:12 local time
- Place: Fairmount, GA
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Climb
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 34.4619° N, 84.7564° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=34.4619&lon=-84.7564&mi=10
- Aircraft: N501RG, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N501RG-2022-02-04) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 501 (registry code 2076603, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-501) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 501
- Reported engine: PRATT WHITNEY JT15D
- People aboard: 4
- Fatal injuries: 4
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Private pilot
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB ERA20FA096](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA20FA096) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20200208010329A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

FROM 8030-9 "N501RG DEPARTED KFFC EN-ROUTE TO KJWN.  SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, PILOT WAS HAVING ISSUES WITH ATTITUDE INDICATOR.  N501RG WAS OBSERVED IN A DESCENT AND ZTL LOST RADAR AND COMMS.  ALNOT ISSUED AT 1522Z".

PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION INDICATES THE FINAL MINUTES OF FLIGHT OCCURRED IN WEATHER CONDITIONS.  PER NTSB DATA SOURCES, THERE WAS LIGHT TO MODERATE ICE REPORTED, AND CONDITIONS WERE IMC.  THE DEPARTURE CONTROLLER AND PILOT DISCUSSED AIRCRAFT HAVING PROBLEM WITH AND INABILITY TO HOLD CLEARANCE AT 10000 FT.  PILOT REPORTED HIS AUTOPILOT AND LEFT SIDE ATTITUDE INDICATOR WAS THE PROBLEM.   CONTROLLER URGED PILOT TO DISCONNECT AUTOPILOT.  AS PROBLEM WAS SEEMINGLY RESOLVED, POSSIBLY BY DISCONNECTION OF AUTOPILOT, PILOT WAS THEN SUCCESSFULLY CLEARED TO 13000 FT.  HE WAS THEN CLEARED TO 16000 FT.   WHILE ACHIEVING CLIMB THRU APPROXIMATELY 15200 FT, AIRCRAFT ADS-B AND RADAR DATA INDICATED AIRCRAFT BEGAN TO VEER/ROLL LEFT WING DOWN, FOLLOWED BY A RAPID DESCENT AND IN-FLIGHT BREAKUP, INCLUDING RIGHT WING SEGMENT, LEFT AILERON, AND ALL TAIL COMPONENTS.  AIRCRAFT DISAPPEARED FROM RADAR AT 8000 FT.   PRIMARY WRECKAGE FOUND LARGELY INTACT AT APPROXIMATE GPS COORDINATED INDICATED IN THIS REPORT IN A CREEK BED UPSIDE DOWN.  TAIL AND WING FRAGMENTS WERE STREWN ABOUT IN A NORTHERLY PATTERN IN AN A APPROXIMATE DEBRIS FIELD OF 6000 FT PER NTSB MEASUREMENTS.  TWO PILOTS AND BOTH PASSENGERS WERE FATALLY INJURED.

CAUSE OF ACCIDENT UNDETERMINED AT THIS TIME.  NTSB SYSTEM INVESTIGATION IS UNDERWAY, AND WHEN REMOVED AIR DATA, AUTOPILOT, AND ICE SYSTEM COMPONENTS ARE TESTED, MORE DATA POINTS CAN BE POTENTIALLY OBSERVED.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB ERA20FA096](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA20FA096), Feb 8, 2020: Cessna 501 (N501RG), Fairmount, GA, substantial damage, 4 fatal. Probable cause: The pilots’ loss of control in flight in freezing instrument meteorological conditions due to spatial disorientation and the cumulative effects of task saturation.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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