- Date
- May 16, 1992, 14:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Madison, VA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N30RRBeech 65
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920516015129A
- Case key
- 11725
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot initiated VFR flight into known adverse weather conditions. Contributing to the accident was low ceiling, high terrain, and low altitude.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The instrument rated pilot was en route to his granddaughter's graduation exercises scheduled for the following day. He had received two preflight weather briefings from flight service and he was advised that marginal VFR conditions existed en route, and instrument meteorological conditions at his destination, and that VFR flight was not recommended. A witness who was below the mountain said he heard a low flying aircraft overhead. He stated that he caught a glimpse of the airplane and said it was 'well below the crest of the mountain' heading south. The weather as reported by the witness was about 200 overcast and visibility below 1 mile in fog. He also mentioned that the clouds had obscured the mountain. Shortly thereafter, he heard what was later determined to be the collision. Search personnel located the burning wreckage on top of mitchells mountain 50 miles north of charlottesville.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N30RR
- Reported as
- Beech 65
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- LC186
- Engine
- Lycoming IGSO-480, 340 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Mc Gee, John J.
- Registered owner
- Mc Gee Timber Corp
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 1, 1991
- Departed
- ABE · Allentown, PA
- Destination
- CHO · Charlottesville, VA
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 70
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 6,003 total · 5,825 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 200 ft overcast
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.