ATL03LA094

The pilot was operating the airplane on an IFR flight plan into instrument meteorological conditions in an area of known thunderstorms with severe turbulence. The airplane disappeared from radar coverage and was located in a wheat field by Sheriff Department personnel. The airplane sustained an in-flight airframe breakup. Airframe components recovered from the accident site were submitted to the NTSB Material Laboratory for examination. The examination revealed all failures were due to overload. Examination of the airframe revealed the airframe design limits were exceeded. The pilot received several preflight briefings through the use of the DUAT system. The products used forecasted thunderstorm activity along the route of flight and the pilot received Convective SIGMET's and Central Weather Advisories warning of developing thunderstorms.

History of flight

On May 16, 2003, at 1758 eastern daylight time, a Kerner Lancair IV, N29ME, registered to Moser Aviation LLC, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, broke up in-flight in the vicinity of Allendale, South Carolina. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at flight altitude and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed. The commercial pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. The flight originated from Portland, Indiana, on May 16, 2003, at 1452 central daylight time.

A witness stated he was sitting in his yard. It was thundering but had not started to rain. He heard an airplane approaching his location traveling towards Allendale from Columbia, South Carolina. He looked up but could not see the airplane due to the cloud cover. The engine sounded like it was at full power and then decreased to idle power. He then heard a sound described as an explosion. He looked in the direction of the sound and observed the cabin area of the airplane come out of the clouds with the wings falling to the ground behind the airplane.

Review of communications between the pilot of N29ME and Jacksonville center revealed the pilot contacted Jacksonville center at 1730, at cruise altitude of 17,000 feet. The pilot requested to deviate to the left for weather. The controller instructed the pilot to stay on his present heading until clear of traffic. The controller asked the pilot if he was weather radar capable. The pilot stated he had a storm scope but it was not working. The controller informed the pilot there was a broken line of weather extending from the northwest to the southeast. He informed the pilot if he wanted to deviate to his right he should fly a heading of 200-degrees magnetic for about 30 to 40 miles. If he wanted to deviate to his left, he should fly a heading of 120 to 125-degrees for about 70 miles. The pilot elected to go to the right. The flight was cleared to 13,000 feet and then direct to Buford, South Carolina. The pilot informed the controller he would proceed direct in about 5 miles. At 1749, the flight was cleared to 11,000 feet and the pilot acknowledged the clearance. There was no other recorded communication between the pilot and Jacksonville center. At 1755:07, the aircraft was observed on radar at 11,100 feet. At 1755:19, the aircraft was at 11,000 feet. The last recorded mode "C" transponder was at 1755:31, at 11,700 feet.

Personnel information

Review of information on file with the FAA Airman's Certification Division, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, revealed the commercial pilot was issued a commercial pilot certificate on May 24, 2002, with ratings for airplane single engine land, and instrument airplane. The pilot held a third class medical certificate issued on May 5, 2003, with the restriction, "must have available glasses for near vision." The pilot's biennial flight review was conducted on May 24, 2002. Review of the pilot's logbook revealed he had logged 834.8 total flight hours. The pilot had logged 109.3 hours in the Lancair IV of which 84.2 were as pilot-in-command.

Aircraft information

According to friends of the family the aircraft logbooks were kept in the airplane. Attempts to locate the aircraft logbooks were unsuccessful. The Hobbs meter was destroyed and no airframe or engine time could be determined. Review of refueling records revealed the airplane was topped off on May 16, 2003, with 23.9 gallons of 100 low lead fuel.

Meteorological information

The accident site was located south of a stationary front. Marginal visual flight rule conditions were depicted over North and South Carolina, and extended over the area in the vicinity of the accident site. The 1500 Weather Depiction chart in the vicinity of the accident site indicated a severe thunderstorm with rain had occurred within the hour and visibility was reduced to 3 miles in rain, with a ceiling overcast at 2,000 feet.

The infrared satellite imagery depicted several areas of enhanced clouds associated with convective activity over South Carolina and eastern Georgia, with the accident site on the western edge of one of those areas. The visible imagery depicted the accident site approximately 12 miles from a defined cumulonimbus cloud with overshooting cloud tops, and under a layer of cirrostratus type clouds associated with the convective activity. Cloud tops of 34,000 feet were identified over the accident site and up to 41,000 feet over the area of overshooting tops 12 miles to the east.

The Charleston WSR-88D radar depicted a large area of echoes with reflectivities to 55 to 60 dBZ or extreme intensity echoes immediately east and rapidly developing echoes over the accident site. Echoes ranged from 5 to 15 dBZ at the time of the breakup to 50-55 dBZ or intense to extreme intensity 12-minutes later. The rapid change in altitude correlated with the developing echoes, which would be characterized by updrafts in the building thunderstorm. Echo tops at the time of the accident were identified from 15,000 to 25,000 feet, with echoes to 40,000 feet 6 miles east. The radar data indicates that the accident airplane had descended into an area of developing thunderstorm cell, and was in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) at the time of the in-flight breakup.

The closest weather reporting facility was Orangeburg Municipal Airport, Orangeburg, South Carolina, located 33 miles northeast of the accident site at an elevation of 195 feet msl. The Orangeburg, South Carolina, special weather observation at 1729 was, wind from 350 degrees at 4 knots, visibility 1 3/4 miles with thunderstorms in the vicinity , light rain and mist, ceiling broken at 1,300 feet, second broken layer at 1,900 feet, and a third broken layer at 3,400 feet, temperature 23 degrees C, dew point temperature 22 degrees C, altimeter 29.99 inches of Mercury (Hg). Remarks: automated observation system, lightning distant all quadrants, thunderstorm ended at 2059Z and began again at 2124Z, precipitation in the last hour 0.20 inches.

The thunderstorm complex to the east of the accident produced 69 cloud-to-ground lightening strikes in the 15 minute period prior to the accident. A cluster of strikes was located from 9 to 15 miles east-northeast through east of the accident site however, no lightening strikes were recorded over the route to the north or over the location of the in-flight breakup.

The pilot received several pre-flight weather briefings through the use of the DUAT system. Forecast thunderstorm activity was present along the pilots route of flight. Convective SIGMETs and Center Weather Advisories warnings were present alerting the pilot to the development of thunderstorms over South Carolina.

Wreckage and impact information

The main wreckage of the airplane was located in a wheat field in the vicinity of highway US278 and Pat Lane near Allendale, South Carolina.

Examination of the crash site revealed the engine assembly and propeller were located inverted in the ground. Two propeller blades were not damaged. The remaining propeller blade was bent aft. The engine assembly separated from the airframe and was connected to the main cabin area by wiring bundles. The cabin area was located directly behind the engine assembly. There was no smell of fuel at the crash site. The nose gear was separated from the airframe. The crash debris line was located on a heading of 062-degrees magnetic, at an elevation of 223 feet, and began .75 miles from a secondary road (S-3-289) located in Allendale County.

The cabin area was located on a heading of 268-degrees magnetic. The forward cabin area was separated from the forward windshield bond line aft to the rear edge of the main cabin door. The empennage was separated at the aft edge of the pressure bulkhead and forward left edge of the baggage door. The top of the main cabin roof adjacent to the rear pressure bulkhead was dama