- Date
- December 3, 2013, 18:09 local (23:09 UTC)
- Place
- Traveler's Rest, SC
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N581TCAnderson Andreas Rans S-6S
- Defining event
- Enroute: VFR encounter with IMC
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report April 23, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20131203023529A
- Case key
- 88509
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
The pilot's decision to continue visual flight into deteriorating weather, which resulted in an encounter with instrument meteorological conditions and subsequent inability to maintain clearance with terrain.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
According to the pilot, he departed the Nashville, Tennessee area earlier in the day and was en route to his destination of Greenville, South Carolina at 9500 feet above mean sea level (msl). He stated that he checked the automated surface observing systems weather report and that the clouds in the Morristown, Tennessee area were reported to be at 7,000 feet above ground level. He added that he knew that he would be able to clear the mountains just below the recorded ceiling height when needed. The pilot was operating under the provisions of day visual flight rules (VFR) on top of the broken/overcast cloud layer prior to beginning the descent through the clouds. During the descent, the pilot stated that the ceiling appeared lower than reported and he elected to climb back up to VFR on top. During this process, the pilot became disoriented, hit a tree, and impacted the side of a mountain. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and empennage. The recorded ceiling and visibility at Greenville Downtown Airport, Greenville, South Carolina, about 10 nautical miles to the southeast of the accident site was an overcast ceiling at 800 feet msl and the visibility was 9 statute miles. The pilot reported that there were no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, he departed the Nashville, Tennessee area earlier in the day and was en route to his destination of Greenville, South Carolina at 9500 feet above mean sea level (msl). He stated that he checked the automated surface observing systems weather report and that the clouds in the Morristown, Tennessee area were reported to be at 7,000 feet above ground level. He added that he knew that he would be able to clear the mountains just below the recorded ceiling height when needed. The pilot was operating under the provisions of day visual flight rules (VFR) on top of the broken/overcast cloud layer prior to beginning the descent through the clouds. During the descent, the pilot stated that the ceiling appeared lower than reported and he elected to climb back up to VFR on top. During this process, the pilot became disoriented, hit a tree, and impacted the side of a mountain. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and empennage. The recorded ceiling and visibility at Greenville Downtown Airport, Greenville, South Carolina, about 10 nautical miles to the southeast of the accident site was an overcast ceiling at 800 feet msl and the visibility was 9 statute miles. The pilot reported that there were no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N581TC
- Reported as
- Anderson Andreas Rans S-6S (SUPERSIX)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 09071827
- Airframe hours
- 840
- Engine
- Rotax 912 S, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental light sport (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 21, 2013 · 84 hours before
- Departed
- JWN · Nashville, TN
- Destination
- GMU · Greenville, SC
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
- 66
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificates
- Private, Sport Pilot
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 27, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 745 total · 712 in this make and model · 700 as pilot in command · 84 in the last 90 days · 57 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night
- Wind
- 80° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 8 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
- Observed at
- GMU, 19 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 17, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.6 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.