ATL05FA044

The pilot contacted the HSV clearance delivery controller at 1807:53 to obtain the flight's IFR clearance, and, at 1814:04, the pilot contacted the HSV ground controller and advised he was ready to taxi. The controller stated at 1814:31, "... there's level five weather activity that is south of the airport moving to the northeast so it's going to be crossing the runway south of the airport about three miles ... there's level five weather activity about two and a half miles south of the airport now." The pilot replied that he was ready to take off from runway 18L and requested vectors around the weather. At 1816:30, the local controller cleared the flight for takeoff from 18L and assigned the pilot a left turn to heading 090. The airplane departed, and no further radio contact was received from the flight. The airplane crashed into a swamp less than 1 nautical mile from the airport. A review of the NEXRAD Level-II radar imagery for HSV at 0016Z, base reflectivities of 50 decibels (dBZ) were in the immediate vicinity of the airport. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunction. According to FAA advisory circular AC-00-24b, "Thunderstorms," "VIP Level 5 is 'intense' with severe turbulence, lightning, hail likely, and organized surface wind gusts. ... Hazardous turbulence may extend as much as 20 miles from the echo edge ... ." AIM chapter 7-1-29, "Thunderstorm Flying," states, "Don't land or take off in the face of an approaching thunderstorm. A sudden gust front of low-level turbulence could cause loss of control."

History of flight

On January 11, 2005, at 1818 central standard time, a Cessna T206H, N2467X, registered to pending applicant N2467X, LLC, and operated by Huntsville Flight Center, collided into trees and the ground shortly after takeoff in Huntsville, Alabama. The personal flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with an instrument flight rules (IFR) plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions with thunderstorms prevailed. The instrument-rated private pilot and the private pilot-rated passenger received fatal injuries, and the airplane was destroyed. The flight departed Huntsville International - Carl T. Jones Field (HSV), Huntsville, Alabama, at 1816 on January 11, 2005.

According to records from the Anniston, Alabama, automated flight service station (AFSS), the pilot telephoned the AFSS at 1752 and obtained an abbreviated weather briefing and filed an IFR flight plan for a flight from HSV to Fulton County - Brown Field (FTY), Atlanta, Georgia. According to air traffic control (ATC) records, the pilot contacted the HSV clearance delivery controller at 1807:53 to obtain the flight's IFR clearance, and, at 1814:04, the pilot contacted the HSV ground controller and advised he was ready to taxi. The ground controller cleared the pilot to taxi to runway 18L and asked the pilot to confirm he had received the Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) information "november" (N). The pilot acknowledged, then the controller stated, "uh standby I want to give you a weather update here in just a second ... ." The controller then stated at 1814:31, "alright I'm looking at the uh weather radar over here, there's level five weather activity that is south of the airport moving to the northeast so it's going to be crossing the runway south of the airport about three miles, the wind is calm right now, no guarantee, of course, that will last, my suggestion, to make this short, is that you go to [runway] three-six right for a three-six right departure, uh, well we've got inbounds opposite direction so that, that wouldn't work right now, um, again, as you depart, get up there and depart, unless you are going to ready right now, there's level five weather activity about two and a half miles south of the airport now."

The pilot replied, "uh, sir, we're ready to go at [runway] one-eight left, if we can go ahead and get it and get uh, uh, vectors around that, if you could do that right off the end of the runway." The ground controller stated that he would coordinate for the pilot's request, and he cleared the pilot to taxi to runway 18L. At 1815:58, the pilot contacted the HSV local controller and advised that he was at 18L ready for takeoff. The local controller advised the pilot to position and hold for release, and, at 1816:30, the local controller cleared the flight for takeoff from 18L and assigned the pilot a left turn to heading 090. The airplane departed, and no further radio contact was received from the flight. At 1818:17, the local controller attempted to contact the pilot but received no reply. When the pilot failed to respond to subsequent radio calls, controllers alerted rescue personnel. At 1820:50, Rescue 1 contacted the clearance delivery controller for permission to proceed to runway 18L, and the clearance delivery controller advised Rescue 1 that "the aircraft departed about three minutes ago ... of course our visibility is poor so I didn't see him after he got airborne."

A review of ATC records for the HSV east radar position indicated that the east radar controller was working other aircraft, including a Delta Airlines flight and a Jet Link flight, on a different radio frequency, and, at 1817:23, advised the Delta flight crew, "we are now showing uh runway three-six left arrival wind shear alert two-zero knot loss on a three-mile final ... ." At 1818:52, the east radar controller advised the Delta flight crew, "still showing wind shear alert uh now we're getting one for three-six right also two-zero knot loss three mile final for both runways." The east radar controller reported that the accident airplane never communicated with him on his frequency.

According to a witness who was driving a vehicle eastbound on a road near the south end of the runway about 1815, he saw an airplane take off toward him. He stated that the weather conditions were rain with gusty winds and that it was dark, but he could see the lights of the airplane and he could see its silhouette against the lights of a cargo facility on the east side of the runway. He stated that, when the airplane had climbed to about "a few wingspans" in altitude, "it pitched up to an aggressive angle" and seemed to be flying slow. He stated that the airplane's nose was still high as it started a turn toward the east and that the nose came down as the airplane completed the turn, and he described the airplane's movements as appearing "smooth" and "controlled" and "not buffeted." He stated that the airplane then headed due east with its wings level but that it was "too low" and "losing altitude quickly and was still going very slowly." The witness then lost sight of the airplane behind the trees.

The HSV field elevation is 629 feet mean sea level (msl). The clearance delivery controller and the local controller both reported that they saw the Mode C readout radar data tag for the flight show 900 feet [msl], then 800 feet [msl], before radar contact was lost. The wreckage was located in a wooded swamp about 1 nautical mile east of the airport.

Personnel information

The pilot held a private pilot certificate for airplane single-engine land and a rating for instrument airplane. He held an FAA third-class airman medical certificate issued December 1, 2004, with no restrictions. The pilot's logbook was not recovered for examination. On the pilot's application for his airman medical certificate, he reported 1,422 total civilian flight hours.

Aircraft information

The airplane was manufactured in 2000 and was powered by a Lycoming TIO-540-AJ1A, 310-horsepower engine. According to the engine and airframe maintenance logbooks, the airplane received an annual inspection on November 9, 2004, at a tachometer reading of 97.6, recorded engine total time of 96.1, and recorded airframe total time of 96.1. A maintenance entry dated December 17, 2004, which recorded an oil change, listed the tachometer reading as 153.2 and the engine total time as 151.7.

Meteorological information

Aviation weather products are transmitted in coordinated universal time (UTC), also designated by "zulu" (Z), and based on a 24-hour clock. Central standard time is UTC minus 6 hours. According to air traffic control records, ATIS N was based on the 2353Z observation and reported winds from 160 degrees at 7 knots, visibility 10 miles, ceiling broken at 7,000 feet, temperature 19 degrees Celsius, dew point 15 degrees Celsius, and altimeter setting 30.03 inches.

The Aviation Routine Weather Report (METAR) for the 2353Z observation included winds from 160 degrees at 7 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, sky conditions broken at 7,000 feet and overcast at 8,500 feet. The Nonroutine (Special) Aviation Weather Report (SPECI) for the 0015Z observation included winds from 260 degrees at 8 knots, visibility 5 statute miles, thunderstorms, light rain, sky conditions broken at 3,800 feet cumulonimbus, broken at 4,700 feet, and overcast at 6,500 feet, with remarks: thunderstorms began at 0014Z, rain began at 2356Z, occasional lightning in cloud and cloud-to-ground southwest through west, thunderstorms southwest through west moving northeast. The SPECI issued for the 0024Z observation included winds from 250 degrees at 7 knots, visibility 1 1/4 statute miles ... thunderstorms, heavy rain, mist ... ."

A review of the NEXRAD Level-II radar imagery for HSV at 0016Z, base reflectivities of 50 decibels (dBZ) were in the immediate vicinity of the airport.

Wreckage and impact informa