# Accident 20200820014309A: Miller Stuart E LANCAIR SUPER ES, Ely, MN, August 20, 2020

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: August 20, 2020, 23:04 local time
- Place: Ely, MN
- Airport: Ely Municipal Airport
- Damage: Destroyed
- Phase of flight: Takeoff: Climb Out
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 47.8942° N, 91.7714° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=47.8942&lon=-91.7714&mi=10
- Aircraft: N997S, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N997S-2022-03-05) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Miller Stuart E LANCAIR SUPER ES (registry code 05629A4, https://openairdocs.org/model/miller-stuart-e-lancair-super-es) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental IO-550-N (registry code 17215, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-550-n) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: MILLER STUART E LANCAIR SUPER ES
- Reported engine: CONT MOTOR IO-550-N
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Private pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 400 total, 70 in this make and model
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB CEN20LA354](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN20LA354) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20200820014309A

## Narrative

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

2020-08-20, N997S, LANCAIR SUPER ES DIVERTED FOR WEATHER TO ELY, MN KELO WHILE ATTEMPTING TO GET TO GRAND MARAIS, MN KCKC. THIS WAS APPROXIMATELY NOON, 1200CST. KCKC WAS SOCKED IN ALL DAY FOR LOW CEILINGS AND FOG ALONG THE LAKE SUPERIOR COAST.

THE PIC GOT A VEHICLE FROM THE KELO FBO AND SPENT THE DAY VISITING IN ELY. AT 1700L HE RETURNED TO THE KELO FBO AND ASKED IF HE COULD KEEP THE VEHICLE. THE FBO APPROVED AS THEY WERE CLOSING AND HAD NO NEED FOR IT. THE PIC DEPARTED THE AIRPORT.

THE PIC WAS AT A FRIENDS HOUSE, THE FRIEND HAD STEPPED OUT AND RETURNED SOMETIME AFTER 2200L TO FIND THAT THE PIC WAS NOT THERE. THE METARS AT DESIRED DESTINATION, KCKC, SHOWED A LIFT OF THE FOG AND LOW CEILINGS JUST AFTER 2200L (2215L 7SM CLEAR)(2235L 10SM CLEAR). THE PIC WAS AIRBORNE FROM KELO FOR HIS 15 MIN FLIGHT TO KCKC AT 2301L. KELO CURRENT METAR WAS SCT 032 BKN 041 TEMP17 DP16. HOWEVER, WITHIN 30 MINUTES IT WAS BKN007, SO WEATHER WAS DETERIORATING. THERE WAS A VALID AIRMET IN THE AREA FOR COASTAL WEATHER MOVING INLAND WITH IFR, WHICH IS IN THE DIRECTION OF KELO. IT WAS A DARK, NO MOON NIGHT.

N997S TOOK OFF AND CLIMBED HEADING NORTH 2301 LOCAL TIME. AT 1500 FT AGL THE AIRCRAFT STARTED MANEUVERING LATERALLY, YET GENERALLY MOVING NORTH. AIRSPEED THEN BECAME DECREASING, AT THE FINAL ADSB REPORT THE AIRCRAFT WAS 1700 FT AGL 57 KTS.

WITNESS HAD BEEN SITTING ON THE DOCK WATCHING THE STARS FOR OVER AN HOUR. AT THE TIME THEY INITIALLY HEARD THE AIRCRAFT THEY COULD NO LONGER SEE STARS DUE TO A CLOUD LAYER OVERHEAD. THE AIRCRAFT CAME OUT OF THE CLOUDS, WITH A STEEP DESCENT, IT'S LIGHTS AND SILOHOUETTE WERE VISIBLE SOUTHEAST FROM THE DOCK. THE AIRCRAFT THEN DID A STEEP CLIMB AND DISAPPEARED INTO THE CLOUDS ABOVE.  SECONDS LATER THE NOISE WAS LOUDER AND THE AIRCRAFT APPEARED TO BE DIVING AT THEM ON THE DOCK, THEY THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO HIT THE WATER IN FRONT OF THEM; IT WAS VERY LOUD AND PULLED UP IN ANOTHER STEEP CLIMB, CLIMBING AWAY FROM THEM AND BACK INTO THE CLOUDS. THE AIRCRAFT CAME DOWN A FINAL TIME JUST SOUTH OF THEM, THIS TIME IT DID NOT PULL UP, IT MADE A LOUD NOISE ON IMPACT, AND EVERYTHING INSTANTLY BECAME SILENT. FROM THE FIRST TIME THEY HEARD AND SAW, THE AIRCRAFT TO THE CRASH WAS LESS THAN 3 MINUTES. THEY CALLED 911 AT 2306 LOCAL TIME, GETTING THEIR PHONES OUT IMMEDIATELY AFTER WITNESSING THE CRASH.

THE FLIGHT PATH WAS SUBSTANTIATED WITH SECURITY VIDEO.

THE AIRCRAFT WAS FOUND IN THIS LOCATION, APPROXIMATELY 5 MILES NORTH OF KELO AIRPORT, IN WHITE IRON LAKE.

## 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 CEN20LA354](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN20LA354), Aug 21, 2020: Lancair Lancair Super ES (N997S), Ely, MN, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: The non-instrument rated pilot’s improper decision to attempt flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation and loss of control and subsequent impact with…

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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