- Date
- February 25, 2000, 13:35 local (18:35 UTC)
- Place
- Shelbyville, IN
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N84DGEllis Q2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 26, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000225040639A
- Case key
- 48755
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
aircraft control not being maintained by the pilot during the attempted go-around. Factors to the accident were the inadequate preflight by the pilot, which resulted in fuel exhaustion. An additional factor to the accident was the inadvertent stall/mush.
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
A witness to the accident reported that during an attempted go-around the airplane's engine was missing and running rough. The witness stated that the airplane entered a descending left turn, impacting the terrain in a 30-45 degree left bank. Post accident inspection of the airplane revealed that the main and header fuel tanks had ruptured, but no fuel spill or fuel odor was noted at the accident site. Witnesses/first responders to the accident site reported that there were no fuel odors around the accident site. Inspection of the engine failed to reveal any anomalies that could be associated with any preexisting condition. A fuel receipt was obtained for the accident airplane's last fueling. The date of the fuel receipt was listed as November 28, 1999, and 6.2 gallons of fuel were purchased for the accident airplane.
Factual narrative
On February 25, 2000, at 1335 eastern standard time (est), an Ellis Q2, N84DG, owned and piloted by an airline transport pilot, was destroyed during an in-flight collision with terrain following a loss of control during a go-around from runway 19 (5,000 feet by 100 feet, dry/asphalt) at the Shelbyville Municipal Airport, Shelbyville, Indiana. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 and was not on a flight plan. The pilot, the sole occupant, was fatally injured. The local flight originated from the Shelbyville Municipal Airport approximately 20 minutes prior to the accident.
According to a pilot-rated witness, the airplane was on final approach for runway 19 when the airplane began a go-around. The witness described the engine operation, during the go-around, as "missing and running rough". The witness reported that the airplane entered a descending left turn, impacting the terrain in a 30-45 degree left bank.
Post accident inspection of the airplane revealed that the main and header fuel tanks had ruptured, but no fuel spill or fuel odor was noted at the accident site.
Witnesses/first responders to the accident site reported that there were no fuel odors around the accident site.
Inspection of the engine failed to reveal any anomalies that could be associated with any preexisting condition.
A fuel receipt was obtained for the accident airplane's last fueling. The date of the fuel receipt was listed as November 28, 1999, and 6.2 gallons of fuel were purchased for the accident airplane.
An autopsy was performed on the pilot on February 26, 2000, at the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Federal Aviation Aeromedical Institute, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, prepared a forensic toxicology report. The test results indicated that there was 0.011 (ug/ml, ug/g) Tetrahydrocannabinol (Marijuana) detected in lung tissue, and that Tetrahydrocannabinol Carboxylic Acid (Marijuana metabolite) was detected in blood and lung tissue.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N84DG
- Reported as
- Ellis Q2
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- Q2461
- Airframe hours
- 318
- Engine
- Revmaster 2100, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ora Merrill Proffitt
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- GEZ
- Airport
- GEZ · Shelbyville Municipal, runway 19, 5,000 × 100 ft, asphalt
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
- 71
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial, Private
- 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
- 12,550 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 16 knots, gusting 21
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 162 °F, dew point 131 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GEZ
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.