BFO94FA096

The pilot had received an inflight weather briefing at 1353 advising him of light to moderate rain showers and marginal VFR conditions en route to the destination. At 1423 he contacted ARTCC and reported he was headed eastbound at 13,500 feet. About 15 minutes later he requested a slow descent to get out of the clouds. He subsequently reported descending through 8,000 feet to 'whatever it takes to get out of these clouds.' Radar service was terminated; however, the pilot subsequently radioed that he needed help and was lost, indicating that he had turned around after encountering clouds and he was now circling over two towns. ATC informed the pilot that he was below radar coverage and he needed to climb. He was later radar identified at 3600 feet and thereafter he radioed 'I'm in clouds right now you need to get me out...' At 1521, the flight was headed east at 7,000 feet when the controller advised the pilot of reported VFR conditions to the north. The pilot acknowledged and was given a north heading. ATC subsequently queried him about his heading and the pilot replied 'I'm trying.' Radar and radio contact with the flight was lost soon afterwards. Witnesses reported the airplane descended from clouds in a steep attitude. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the left wing, outboard right wing, left stabilator and elevator had separated in flight.

History of flight

On June 11, 1994, about 1525 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 210B, N210M, was destroyed when it collided with the terrain near Culpepper, Virginia. The private pilot and passenger received fatal injuries. The personal transportation flight originated in Tulia, Texas, at an undetermined time, and was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. A Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight plan was filed; however, the flight was operated in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC).

On June 9, 1994, at 2205, the pilot called the Fort Worth, Texas AFSS by telephone and obtained a preflight outlook weather briefing for a proposed flight from Amarillo, Texas, to Washington, D.C. There were no records of any further pre-flight briefings prior to departure from Tulia.

En route, and following a fuel stop in Kentucky, the pilot contacted the Terre Haute, Indiana, AFSS, at 1353. He reported his position as west of Charleston, West Virginia, en route to Manassas, Virginia, and requested a weather update. He was given:

"...there is some light to moderate rain showers right along the top of the Appalachians northeast southwest that can be expected to develop uh over the next uh afternoon...evening uh over the early afternoon hours at your destination uh Manassas latest observation via automatic weather observing system measured ceiling one thousand one hundred broken additionally one thousand eight hundred broken...there is light rain and or light drizzle east of the Appalachians into the Washington D C area over"

This was acknowledged by the pilot of N210M.

At 1423, the pilot established radio contact with the Washington ARTCC, and reported that he was eastbound, level, at 13,500 feet.

At 1437:35, the pilot transmitted, "...I'd like to enter uh slow descent, get out of these clouds."

At 1448:44, the pilot transmitted, "...out of eight [8,000 feet] down to whatever it takes to [get] below these...clouds."

At 1455, the pilot was told the minimum vectoring altitude for the area he was in was 5,100 feet. The pilot acknowledged this and then the controller terminated radar service and requested the pilot to, "...squawk vfr...."

At 1504, the pilot contacted Washington ARTCC, and stated, "...I seem to be lost can you help me out I am too low can you pick me up on the radar." Additionally, he reported that his LORAN was giving him erroneous figures.

When asked what his position was, the pilot reported that he was not sure and added, "...I was heading east into Manassas showing ah sixty miles out and all of a sudden these clouds just fogged in front of me on the mountains so I just turned around and just kind of circling right here above two pretty good sized towns."

The pilot was told he was too low to be picked up on radar and asked if he could climb. He was assigned code 1277, and at 1511:04, was radar identified at 3600 feet.

At 1517, the pilot was asked if he was in vfr conditions and he replied, "...I'm in clouds right now you need to get me out..." When asked if he was capable of IFR flight, the pilot replied, "No I'm not." At 1518:17, the pilot transmitted, "I'm trying to get [to] Manassas but if you'll get me someplace else that I can see I'll sure land this thing."

At 1518:51, the pilot contacted Dulles Approach Control, and stated, "Dulles this is centurion two one zero mike I'm trying to get [to] Manassas." Again the pilot was asked if he was capable of IFR flight, and he replied that he was not capable of IFR flight.

At 1519, the controller reported the position of N210M as thirty miles west of Manassas and his altitude as 7,000 feet. He then asked the pilot if he wanted to descend now or descend over the airport. The pilot replied, "Okay good just direct me there." The pilot was then given a heading of 090.

At 1521:53, the pilot transmitted, "My heading should be zero nine zero."

At 1521:57, the controller replied, "Uh for manassas uh zero niner zero affirmative one zero mike - - but uh we can give you vectors - - northbound to try and get you through the overcast uh layer if thats true most of the precipitation to the east and to the south - - uh a kingair north of your position has reported ground contact at nine thousand turn left heading zero one zero one zero mike and uh - - suggest you don't descend right now any lower than - - - - uh five thousand."

The pilot replied, "Okay what heading one zero zero."

The controller replied, "zero one zero one zero mike zero one zero."

At 1524:53, the controller transmitted, "One zero mike your heading uh northbound now is that correct."

At 1524:58, the controller transmitted, "One zero mike should be heading northbound."

At 1525:01, the pilot replied, "I'm trying." The controller replied, "Your trying ok I understand - - - I show your altitude at four thousand six hundred...I'm about to lose radar with you...."

No further radio transmissions were received from the airplane and radar contact was lost.

Witnesses saw the airplane descending from an overcast sky at a steep angle. The airplane burst into flames upon ground contact.

The accident occurred during the hours of daylight at location, 38 degrees, 33 minutes North and 77 degrees, 57 minutes West.

Personnel information

The pilot was the holder of a Private Pilot Certificate, with an airplane single engine land rating. He did not hold an instrument rating. He was issued an FAA Third Class Airman Medical Certificate on August 26, 1993. According to the pilot's log book, he had a total time of 385 hours, and 134 hours in the Cessna 210. He had logged about 4 hours of instrument time, and had not logged any flight time since November, 1993.

Aircraft information

The airplane was a 1962 Cessna 210B. The recording tachometer was not recovered; however, according to the airplane log books, it had flown 128 hours between June 5, 1993, and April 5, 1994. Based upon past history, the airplane was estimated to have flown an additional 26 hours prior to the accident, for a total airframe time of 2711 hours at the time of the accident.

Wreckage and impact information

The airplane was examined at the accident site. The examination revealed the debris path was on a heading of 035 degrees, in excess of 700 feet. The main wreckage was 360 feet from the start of the debris path.

The inboard portion of the left wing was bent down, at both the fuselage attach point, and at the separation point of the outboard section, which occurred near the strut attach point. The leading edge was not damaged. The wing skin was separated from the outboard portion of the left wing. The plastic wing tip was intact.

The left elevator and horizontal stabilizer were fractured into several pieces. There was no evidence of leading edge impact damage on the parts.

The right horizontal stabilizer and elevator received impact damage. The elevator tip did not have impact damage.

The inboard section of the right wing and cabin were burned.

Rotational scoring marks were found on a rotor from a gyro. The vanes on the vacuum pump were intact.

Medical and pathological information

Autopsies were conducted by Francis P. Field, M.D, Northern Virginia Medical Examiner's Office.

Toxicological testing conducted by the FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute (CAMI), in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was negative for drugs and alcohol.

Additional information

Recorded Radar Data

Radar data was supplied by the Dulles Approach Control for the last 10 minutes of flight. During this time period, the airplane climbed from 5,200 feet, to 7,300 feet, and then entered a descent. At 1524:35, the airplane altitude was recorded as 6,000 feet and descending. By 1525:03, the airplane had descended to 5000 feet. The last recorded radar contact occurred at 1525:12 when the airplane was 4200 feet high. A plot of the last several data point