# NTSB investigations, 2019: VFR encounter with IMC

NTSB aviation accident and incident investigations since 1962: the probable cause, findings, aircraft, crew, weather and docket of each, linked to the FAA registry and the FAA’s own reports.

## Latest cases

- [NTSB ANC20MA010](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC20MA010.md): Airbus AS350B2 · Kekaha, HI · Accident · 7 fatal · Class 1 · Major · Final report · Dec 27, 2019 · N985SA · Destroyed
  > The pilot’s decision to continue flight under visual flight rules (VFR) into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), which resulted in the collision into terrain. Contributing to the accident was Safari Aviation Inc.’s lack of safety management processes…
- [NTSB CEN20WA011](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN20WA011.md): Cessna 172 · San Salvador, El Salvador · Accident · 2 fatal · Foreign investigation · Oct 19, 2019 · N7381G · Destroyed
- [NTSB WPR20WA003](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR20WA003.md): Cessna 172 · Sultanpur, India · Accident · 2 fatal · Foreign investigation · Oct 6, 2019 · VT-RGF · Substantial damage
  > On October 6, 2019, about 0750 coordinated universal time, a Cessna 172, VT-RGF, impacted terrain near Sultanpur, India after requesting to turn back due to bad weather. The student pilot and passenger were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The…
- [NTSB CEN20FA003](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN20FA003.md): Lancair Legacy · Bixby, MO · Accident · 1 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · Oct 6, 2019 · N10LG · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's continued visual flight rules flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in a loss of control due to spatial disorientation.
- [NTSB CEN19FA332](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN19FA332.md): Cessna 150 · Prairie Grove, AR · Accident · 1 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · Sep 24, 2019 · N4658X · Substantial damage
  > The noninstrument-rated pilot's loss of control due to spatial disorientation after encountering instrument meteorological conditions at night.
- [NTSB WPR19FA263](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR19FA263.md): Cessna 182 · Nixon, NV · Accident · 2 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Sep 19, 2019 · N1891X · Destroyed
  > A loss of airplane control while maneuvering due to spatial disorientation after inadvertently entering instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). Contributing to the accident was the pilot's inexperience in IMC conditions.
- [NTSB WPR19FA256](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR19FA256.md): Piper PA32 · La Grande, OR · Accident · 1 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · Sep 8, 2019 · N6300Z · Destroyed
  > The pilot’s decision to continue visual flight rules flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation and a loss of control.
- [NTSB CEN19FA247](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN19FA247.md): Piper PA28 · Ontonagon, MI · Accident · 1 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · Aug 3, 2019 · N5167L · Destroyed
  > The non-instrument-rated pilot’s decision to continue visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions with thunderstorm activity, which resulted in spatial disorientation and a loss of airplane control.
- [NTSB ANC19FA033](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC19FA033.md): Piper PA 24-180 · Ketchikan, AK · Accident · 1 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · Jul 11, 2019 · N5840P · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s decision to continue visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation and a loss of control.
- [NTSB CEN19FA177](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN19FA177.md): Beech A36 · Elida, OH · Accident · 2 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Jun 20, 2019 · N6150X · Destroyed
  > The noninstrument-rated pilot's decision to continue visual flight rules flight into an area of instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in a loss of control due to spatial disorientation. Contributing was the pilot not obtaining a weather…
- [NTSB WPR19FA175](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR19FA175.md): Robinson R44 · Two Harbors, CA · Accident · 1 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · Jun 18, 2019 · N7187D · Destroyed
  > The pilot's continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain.
- [NTSB ERA19FA181](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA19FA181.md): Piper PA28R · Auburn Township, OH · Accident · 1 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · May 28, 2019 · N3933T · Destroyed
  > The pilot's loss of control due to spatial disorientation in dark night conditions. Contributing to the accident was his inadequate weather planning, lack of experience flying at night and the deteriorating weather conditions.
- [NTSB WPR19FA148](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR19FA148.md): Robinson R44 · Alpine, UT · Accident · 2 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · May 17, 2019 · N744TW · Substantial damage
  > The noninstrument-rated pilot’s continued visual flight rules flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation and subsequent loss of control. Contributing to the accident was hypoxia due to the high altitude at which…
- [NTSB CEN19FA140](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN19FA140.md): Air Tractor AT502 · Eagle Lake, TX · Accident · 1 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · May 11, 2019 · N713LA · Destroyed
  > The non-instrument-rated pilot's decision to fly into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation, a loss of control, and a subsequent impact with terrain.
- [NTSB ERA19FA163](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA19FA163.md): Guimbal Cabri · Kent Island, MD · Accident · 2 fatal · Class 2 · Field · Final report · May 4, 2019 · N572MD · Destroyed
  > The noninstrument-rated pilot's continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in an inadvertent descent into the water. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to conduct the flight at a low altitude without…
- [NTSB ERA19FA161](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA19FA161.md): Cessna 172 · Tyrone, PA · Accident · 2 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · May 1, 2019 · N733KZ · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s continued visual flight rules flight into instrument meteorological conditions, resulting in controlled flight into trees and terrain.
- [NTSB ANC19TA017](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC19TA017.md): Cessna A185 · Nome, AK · Accident · Serious injuries · Class 3 · Final report · Apr 15, 2019 · N5163E · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's decision to continue a visual flight rules flight into an area of mountainous terrain and instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation and controlled flight into terrain. Contributing to the accident was the…
- [NTSB WPR19FA103](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR19FA103.md): Cirrus SR22 · Farmington, NM · Accident · 1 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · Mar 31, 2019 · N173CT · Destroyed
  > The noninstrument-rated pilot's continued visual flight rules flight into an area of forecast instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation and a subsequent loss of control.
- [NTSB WPR19FA086](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR19FA086.md): Beech D55 · Stallion Springs, CA · Accident · 3 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · Feb 22, 2019 · N533Q · Destroyed
  > The pilot’s continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions associated with mountain obscuration conditions, which resulted in controlled flight into rising terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to obtain a weather…
- [NTSB WPR19FA084](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR19FA084.md): Cirrus SR22 · Ely, NV · Accident · 2 fatal · Class 2 · Field · Final report · Feb 16, 2019 · N917SR · Destroyed
  > The pilot’s decision to continue the visual flight rules flight into instrument meteorological conditions and icing conditions which resulted in a high rate of descent and impact with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the inaccurate weather reporting…
- [NTSB WPR19FA079](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR19FA079.md): Cessna 414 · Yorba Linda, CA · Accident · 5 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · Feb 3, 2019 · N414RS · Destroyed
  > The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control after entering instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) while climbing due to spatial disorientation, which resulted in the exceedance of the airplane’s design stress limits and subsequent in-flight break-up.…
- [NTSB CEN19FA078](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN19FA078.md): Mooney M20K · Katy, TX · Accident · 1 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · Jan 31, 2019 · N56359 · Destroyed
  > The noninstrument-rated pilot's decision to continue visual flight into an area of instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), which resulted in a loss of control due to spatial disorientation.
- [NTSB WPR19FA075](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR19FA075.md): Piper PA28 · Oceanside, CA · Accident · 1 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · Jan 29, 2019 · N37RV · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s improper decision to depart on the night visual flight rules flight into deteriorating weather conditions, which resulted in an in-flight encounter with instrument meteorological conditions and collision with rising terrain.
- [NTSB CEN19FA072](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN19FA072.md): Bell 407 · Zaleski, OH · Accident · 3 fatal · Class 1 · Field · Final report · Jan 29, 2019 · N191SF · Destroyed
  > The NTSB determines that the probable cause of this accident was Survival Flight's inadequate management of safety, which normalized pilots' and operations control specialists' noncompliance with risk analysis procedures and resulted in the initiation of the…

## The whole list in SQL

Runs in DuckDB 1.2 or later on the release's Parquet files over HTTPS:

```sql
SELECT c."ntsbNumber", c."eventDate", c."eventType", c."eventCity", c."eventStateOrRegion", a.n_number, a."aircraftMake", a."aircraftModel", c."highestInjuryLevel", c."totalFatal", c."completionStatus", c.report_url
FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = c."mKey" AND a.position = 1
WHERE year(c."eventDate") = 2019
  AND c."mKey" IN (SELECT s.case_mkey FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_events.parquet' s WHERE s."tier2Number" = '401' AND s.case_mkey IN (SELECT case_mkey FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_events.parquet' WHERE "isDefiningEvent"))
ORDER BY c."eventDate" DESC, c."ntsbNumber" DESC
```

This list as a web page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/401/sequence?year=2019

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OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.
