# NTSB CHI05LA014: Cessna P206B, N8619Z, Taylorville, IL, October 24, 2004 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: October 24, 2004, 14:40 local (19:40 UTC) - Place: Taylorville, IL - Coordinates: 39.536388, -89.332221 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=39.5364&lon=-89.3322&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 1 fatal, 1 minor, 4 uninjured - Status: Completed, report January 31, 2006 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: Federal Aviation Administration - NTSB case key (mKey): 60450 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CHI05LA014 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/60450/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CHI05LA014 ## Probable cause Aircraft control not possible by the pilot following a premature deployment of a parachute as a parachutist exited the jump airplane during cruise flight. The inverted spin encountered by the pilot was an additional cause. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Miscellaneous/other, cruise - misc eqpt/furnishings,parachute/drag chute - deployed inadvertently (cause) - Loss of control - in flight, cruise - stall/spin - encountered, pilot in command (cause) - aircraft control - not possible, pilot in command (cause) - Loss of control - in flight, descent - uncontrolled - In flight collision with terrain/water, descent - uncontrolled - terrain condition - ground ## Analysis The airplane entered an inverted spin during a skydiving operation when a parachutist's parachute deployed while exiting the airplane at 10,500 feet mean sea level. The parachute became entangled around the right hand landing gear and the parachutist could not be freed. The pilot, who was wearing a parachute, and the remaining parachutists jumped from the airplane. The airplane subsequently impacted a flat field, inverted, and in uncontrolled flight. The entangled parachutist received fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. ## Factual narrative On October 24, 2004, about 1440 central daylight time, a Cessna P206B, N8619Z, operated by Mid-America Sport Parachute Club Inc., as a skydive airplane, was destroyed on impact with terrain following an entanglement of a parachute around the front of the right main landing gear strut. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 skydive flight was not operating on a flight plan. The pilot received minor injuries, four parachutists were uninjured, and one parachutist was fatally injured. The local flight originated from Taylorville Municipal Airport, Taylorville, Illinois, about 1420. The pilot stated that at 10,500 feet mean sea level, the five parachutists proceeded to exit. Parachutist number one opened the door and positioned himself onto the strut. Parachutist number two was just stepping onto the exit platform on the right hand landing gear when his main parachute "came free" from the container and dropped outside the airplane in front of the landing gear strut. The instant parachute inflation jerked parachutist number two down. Parachutist number one released from the airplane. The airplane pitched nose down due to drag and the flight control inputs were not responsive due to the parachute blocking the elevator and rudder airflow and drag at the right gear line entanglement point. The airplane continued in nose down pitch attitude [and] immediately [rolled] 180 degrees to inverted and entered a flat inverted spin. The ensuing centrifugal force was estimated by the pilot to be 3 g's towards the outside of the spin causing the parachutists to be forced to the top left of airplane, away from the right exit door. The cutaway attempts by parachutist number three for parachutist number two's entanglement were unsuccessful due to g force and rotational spin knocking the remaining parachutists about the cabin. The pilot continued the recovery procedures to about 6,000 feet but was unsuccessful. The pilot said that he has been a pilot at the Mid-America Sport Parachute Club since approximately 1991 and since then there have been no occurrences of premature parachute deployment. He said that the accident parachutist would pack his own main parachute and none of the other club members or certified riggers "touched" parachutist number two's main parachute. The pilot stated that he would visually check the backs of parachutists as they exited the airplane, which would be about 2-3 feet from him. Parachutist number two exited the airplane and the back of the parachute fell in front of the landing gear strut and got caught in the slipstream. The pilot was wearing a parachute during the accident flight. Parachutist number two's last logbook entry was dated September 26, as jump number 79, from a Cessna 185, at an exit altitude of 10,500 feet, and a total time to date of 58:27. Examination of the wreckage by the Federal Aviation Administration revealed that the airplane was inverted in an agricultural field. The Harness/Container was a "Javelin" system manufactured by Sun Path Products, Inc, in November 1990, serial number 1347. The cut away handle had not been pulled until first responders arrived on-scene to the accident. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N8619Z](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N8619Z-2005-04-07), registration cancelled 2005-04-07, S/N P206-0419, built 1967 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna P206B - Registry model: [Cessna P206B](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-p206b) (registry code 2073309) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental IO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series) (registry code 17032, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 0419 - Airframe hours: 4636 - Engines: Continental IO-520 300 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Destroyed - Flight: Business, Part 91 - Registered owner: Mid-America Sport Parachute Club Inc. - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, March 3, 2004, 90 hours before - Departed: TAZ, Taylorville, IL - Destination: TAZ - Airport: TAZ, Taylorville Muni ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 49; injuries: minor; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 2, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; last flight review March 13, 2004; seat: left; flight hours: 2,900 total, 1,700 in this make and model, 2,850 as pilot in command, 30 in the last 90 days, 15 in the last 30 days, 1 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 200° at 5 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 70 °F, dew point 37 °F - Altimeter: 29.90 inHg - Observed at: SPI, 25 nm away ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20041024027329A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20041024027329A), Oct 24, 2004: Cessna P206B, Taylorville, IL, Destroyed, 1 fatal. (-23) This aircraft operated by mid america sport parachute club, inc. of Taylorville, IL. Was conducting parachute operations over the Taylorville airport at… ## Other investigations on N8619Z (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB LAX78DUM20](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX78DUM20), Apr 7, 1978: Cessna 206 (N8619Z), Imperial, CA, substantial damage From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.