CHI03FA094

The airplane impacted terrain during an uncontrolled descent from cruise flight about 22 nautical miles southwest of an en route airport. Just prior to a loss of radar/radio contact with air traffic control, the pilot was initiating a climb to a higher altitude from which he previously descended where he reported light rime icing. He reported that he wanted to get between what he described as layers. Weather data and information indicated that the airplane encountered occasional light rime or mixed icing after the pilot reported light rime icing and later encountered a patch of supercooled large droplets and accumulated moderate to severe icing before its uncontrolled descent. An AIRMET for occasional moderate rime or mixed icing was issued for an area that included the accident route of flight.

The pilot logged a total actual instrument time 39.7 hours since he received his instrument rating in 1982. He logged 2.7 hours of instrument time in the last 90 days and 1.9 hours in the last 30 days before the accident.

The airplane was not equipped with a wing deice system and did not have a current pitot static system check. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any anomalies which would have precluded normal operation.

History of flight

On March 28, 2003, about 1549 central standard time, a Beech A36, N1636W, operated by Morris Hancock Flying Club as a rental airplane, was destroyed following an uncontrolled descent into terrain about two miles west of New Vienna, Iowa. Marginal visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The Title 14 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) Part 91 business flight was operating on an instrument flight rules flight (IFR) plan. The commercial pilot and two passengers were fatally injured. The flight departed from Aurora Municipal Airport, Aurora, Illinois, en route to Morris Municipal Airport (3CK), Morris, Minnesota, at 1439.

A private pilot, who had known the accident pilot through the Morris Hancock Flying Club, stated that the accident pilot was to fly the passengers on a business trip. According to the private pilot, the accident pilot said that he would charge for the day, plus an hourly rate for the airplane, which the private pilot knew was the rental rate for the accident airplane at the flying club. When the pilot was told about the flight and that one of the passengers wanted to be able to get home in good time Friday afternoon, the pilot mentioned something to the effect that there were some fronts moving through that might affect the route of flight and that he 'didn't want to fly in any ice.' The pilot had some students scheduled for lessons on the day of the accident and thought those could be changed.

The president of the Morris Hancock Flying Club provided the investigator-in-charge with a copy of the sign up calendar for the accident airplane. An entry for March 28 shows the following: 6 am, the pilot's name, an arrow, and 6 pm.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aircraft Accident Package:

At 1211, the pilot of N1636W called the Kankakee Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) by telephone and obtained a preflight briefing from the Lake-in-the-Hills airport (3CK) to the Morris, MN airport (MOX).

At 1322, the pilot of N1636W called the Kankakee AFSS by telephone and obtained an abbreviated preflight weather brief from 3CK to Aurora airport (ARR)

At 1432, N1636W called Aurora Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) Ground Control for IFR clearance.

At 1439, Aurora ATCT cleared N1636W for takeoff with initial heading of 270 degrees.

At 1511, N1636W advised that he was picking up light rime icing at 6,000 feet and that he would like to try 4,000 feet. Approach Control instructed N1636W to descend and maintain 4,000 feet, and coordinated the altitude change with Chicago Center.

At 1517:20, N1636W transmitted, "chicago center bonanza one six three six whiskey with you level four thousand."

At 1517:24, Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center (Chicago ARTCC) transmitted, "bonanza one six three six whiskey chicago center good afternoon your radar contact is lost due to your prox uh proximity to your radar site and your altitude i should be able to pick you up here as you uh come to uh closer to dubuque."

At 1521:36, Chicago ARTCC transmitted, "(unintelligible) one six three six uh whiskey are radar contact now east southeast of the dubuque and i'm showing uh twenty three miles four thousand thank you."

At 1521:54, Chicago ARTCC transmitted, "and one six three six whiskey copy that."

At 1521:57, N1636W transmitted, "three six whiskey i copy that yes twenty four uh south southwest of dubuque."

At 1542:55, N1636W transmitted, "chicago center uh bonanza one six three six whiskey would like to try six thousand."

At 1543:11, N1636W transmitted, "bonanza one six three six whiskey would like to try six thousand feet to uh get between layers."

At 1543:16, Chicago ARTCC transmitted, "bonanza one six three six whisky climb and maintain six thousand."

At 1543:20, N1636W transmitted, "three six whiskey out of four for six."

At 1549:35, Chicago ARTCC transmitted, "november one six three six whiskey i've lost your transponder reset transponder squawk six two four one.

There were no further recorded transmissions by N1636W.

According to an Iowa State Highway Patrol Statement/Interview, a witness was working outside when he heard the airplane. "The airplane came right out of the clouds." The report also states that "the engines were revved up to the maximum."

A second witness said that he was working on the north side of his barn when he heard an airplane come up from the southeast heading towards the northwest about 1530. He said the airplane was white in color and didn't pay attention to its trim color. He heard the airplane "pulling hard" and didn't know if it had a muffler on it. The airplane was 1,500-2,000 feet above the ground in level flight. He saw the airplane flying through the clouds and heading for a clearing. He said that there was a wall of dark clouds along route 20 which were low to the ground. The clouds over Dyersville, Iowa, were black. He described the weather as sleeting with water, pellets, and snow. He was looking through the rain and sleet and estimated that the visibility at the time was 2-3 miles.

The main wreckage was located about 22.4 nautical miles (NM) and 291 degrees from Dubuque Regional Airport (DBQ), Dubuque, Iowa, at an accident site elevation of 1,022 feet mean sea level.

Personnel information

The pilot, age 44, reported on his last airman medical application that he was self-employed as a flight instructor; he was one of the flight instructors at Morris Hancock Flying Club. He held a commercial pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land, multiengine land, and instrument airplane ratings. He held a certified flight instructor certificate (CFI) with a single-engine rating.

On April 28, 1982, he was issued a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating. A total instruction time of 38.5 hours and a total pilot-in-command (PIC) time of 34.5 hours was reported on his Airman Certificate and/or Rating Application.

On September 7, 1982, he was issued an instrument airplane rating. A total instruction time of 105.4 hours and a total PIC time of 164.1 hours were reported on his Airman Certificate and/or Rating Application.

On January 31, 2001, he was issued a commercial pilot certificate. A total instruction time of 136 hours and a total pilot time of 474 hours were reported on his Airman Certificate and/or Rating Application.

On April 26, 2001, he failed his practical examination portion on his first attempt to obtain a commercial airplane multiengine rating. Upon reapplication, he was to be reexamined on the following: "AREA OF OPERATION IX UNSATISFACTORY ALL OTHERS SATISFACTORY." A total instruction time of 150 hours and a total pilot time of 516 hours were reported on his Airman Certificate and/or Rating Application.

On May 2, 2001, he was issued a multiengine land rating upon his reexamination.

On April 9, 2002, he failed his practical examination for an initial flight instructor certificate with an airplane single-engine rating. A total time of 803 hours was reported on his Airman Certificate and/or Rating Application. Upon reapplication, he was to be reexamined on the following: "AREA XIII. EMERGENCY PROCEDURES, AREA XIV. APPROACHES AND LANDINGS." A total instruction time of 224 hours and a total pilot time of 803 hours was reported on his Airman Certificate and/or Rating Application.

On April 15, 2002, he was issued a CFI certificate with an airplane single-engine rating. A total instruction time of 227 hours and a total pilot time of 818 hours were reported on his Airman Certificate and/or Rating Application.

On September 29, 2002, he was involved in a general aviation accident during an instructional flight in which he was acting as the CFI. This accident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, which determined the probable cause of the accident as: "The inadequate fuel manage