BFO94FA017

During the takeoff climb in instrument meteorological conditions at night, the pilot became spatially disoriented. Prior to takeoff, and during the last flight prior to the accident, the pilot was made aware of an attitude indicator inaccuracy in the accident airplane. A witness to the accident stated that he heard the airplane's engine at high RPM then go to Low RPM. He stated he heard the engine do this a few times over the airport area. He stated that he saw the airplane come out of the cloud base and then bank into a 60-degree left turn. The airplane impacted trees and then a paint hangar before coming to rest on the ground. An IFR flight plan was filed for the cross country personal flight. Witness reports indicated the cloud base was anywhere between 200 to 700 feet above the ground around the time of the accident. Post accident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any anomalies.

History of flight

On Wednesday, November 24, 1993, at 1802 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-28RT-201, operated by the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Aero Club near Dayton, Ohio, collided with trees and a paint shop hangar at the Portage County Airport under undetermined circumstances. The pilot was fatally injured and the airplane was destroyed. The instrument flight rules (IFR) cross country personal flight was cleared for departure from the Portage County Airport at 1800 and was destined for the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base airport. The flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 91.

According to a friend, (who was also a flight student of the pilot), on the day of the accident, the pilot flew from Wright- Patterson Air Force Base to Ohio State University (OSU) airport and arrived at 1530. The friend also stated that the purpose of that day's flights were to take him from the OSU airport and drop him off at the Portage County airport in Ravenna, Ohio, for personal reasons. The friend stated that he preflighted the airplane while the pilot filed an IFR flight plan and received a weather forecast. In addition, the pilot also performed a preflight inspection of the airplane.

The friend stated that they departed the OSU airport at 1615 and the flight to Portage County airport was uneventful. He stated that he sat in the left seat for the flight and received instrument flight instruction en route to the airport. The friend stated that while in cruise flight, "...we noticed that by following the attitude indicator we seemed to maintain a slight turn according to the [directional gyro]. We assumed there was a slight error in the attitude indicator. At one point the attitude indicator showed a slight (less than approx 10 deg) bank to the right while the turn and bank coordinator indicated about the same degree of bank to the left. [The pilot] explained that the turn and bank coordinator was more sensitive and to follow it. I did this and our heading stabilized."

The friend stated that during the approach to the airport, they observed that the base of the clouds were about 4,000 feet above the ground and there was a "fine rain" falling. He stated they landed at the Portage County Airport at 1715 and parked the airplane at Chinn Aviation.

The friend stated that the weather had deteriorated considerably since they landed and he had asked the pilot if he wanted to stay the night. He said the pilot told him to go home and that he was going to fly back to Dayton, Ohio, in about fifteen minutes. The friend stated that the pilot and he debriefed the flight and then the pilot called a Flight Service Station to get a weather outlook. He stated that when he left the pilot, "He was happy and affable, and totally in control."

The owner of Chinn Aviation stated that N8467H did not receive any fuel. He stated that he closed his facility at 1750 and the pilot was in his airplane. Mr. Chinn stated that he left his facility and did not see N8467H take off.

According to the transcript of radio communications from the Akron-Canton Clearance position at the Akron-Canton Air Traffic Control tower, the pilot requested and received an IFR clearance to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base from the Portage County Airport. At 1759:04, N8467H was cleared for takeoff from runway 09 and was told, once airborne, to "...contact departure." When the Akron-Canton Departure controller was not contacted by the pilot of N8467H, he asked the clearance controller to query the pilot over the clearance delivery frequency. At 1805:19, the clearance delivery controller transmitted to the pilot of N8467H and inquired about his position, however, there was no response. The clearance delivery controller did note that she saw "...on the ARDRW radar scope a splat at the 29G [Portage County] Airport and [then] it disappeared."

A witness located in a hangar at the airport stated, "...I heard a low flying aircraft. At first I thought it was a 'buzz job.' After several zooms, I became concerned that it might be someone in trouble. It sounded like low-level, high power aerobatics over my building. After about 1/2 to 1 minute, [I heard] 3 or 4 loud zooms, [then] I heard [an] impact."

Another witness, located in a home about 400 yards from the accident site stated, "...I noticed that the sound of this particular airplane in the area was loud, indicating that the aircraft was very close to the house in which I was staying. Based on the sound of the plane, and being familiar with the airport and several types of aircraft, I could almost surely state that the aircraft was going in a north-east to south-east turning pattern." He stated that he heard the sound of the impact and ran to the accident site. The witness also stated that the airport runway lights were on when he got to the accident site.

Another witness, the owner of a maintenance shop at the airport, located about 100 feet from where the airplane impacted the paint hangar stated, "I heard the airplane's engine sound like it was looking for the airport. The engine was running wide open, dead off, wide open, dead off. I went outside and could not see [the airplane] because the clouds were so low. When I did see [the airplane], I saw the landing light then the airplane as it came out of the clouds...on a northerly heading....The plane was in at least a 60-degree nose down left turn at a very high speed. The airplane went in and it looked like the left wing hit the building....This happened about 6:05 pm."

The accident occurred during the hours of darkness at 41 degrees 12.37 minutes north latitude and 81 degrees 15.07 west longitude.

Personnel information

The pilot held a commercial flight certificate with single and multi-engine land ratings. He also held a single engine land instrument rating and a single engine land instrument instructor rating.

According to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Aero Club records, at the time of the accident the pilot had accrued about 2,800 total flying hours and was instrument proficient. The pilot's personal log book was not recovered.

According to a witness and rescue personnel at the accident site, the pilot was found in the airplane's right front seat.

Meteorological information

N8467H landed at the Portage County Airport during the hours of daylight at 1715. At that time, the base of the clouds were reported to be 4,000 feet above the ground. Approximately 15 to 30 minutes later, witnesses reported that the weather deteriorated and the base of the clouds were reported to be about 500 feet above the ground. N8467H departed the airport during the hours of darkness, about 1800.

A witness located in his hangar at the time of the accident, stated that he took-off in his airplane from the Portage County Airport about an hour after the accident. He stated that the base of the clouds were about 700 feet above the ground.

Another witness who saw the airplane impact the hangar stated that he thought the base of the clouds were about 200 to 500 feet above the ground with precipitation falling.

The owner of Chinn Aviation stated that he had two airplanes flying in the area around 1715. He stated that both airplanes had landed before 1730 and the pilots of both airplanes stated that they did not encounter any icing conditions or freezing precipitation. He stated that at 1730, the temperature was about 40-degrees fahrenheit and the base of the clouds were at 500 feet above the ground.

The Akron, Ohio, National Weather Service Station, located about 20 nautical miles southwest of the accident site, recorded a weather observation about 1810. The report stated that there was a scattered cloud layer at 1,000 feet above the ground and a base of the clouds at 3,700 feet above the ground, with rain and fog. The visibility was 5 miles; the temperature was 43 degrees fahrenheit; the dew point was 41 degrees fahrenheit, and;