Beechcraft B19 N5108R

Summary

On 12 October 2000 at about 11:25 local time, a Beechcraft B19 registered N5108R was involved in an accident near Umbarger, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 October 2000 at 11:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Umbarger, Texas, United States

Coordinates

34.8992, -102.1294

Aircraft

Beechcraft B19

Registration

N5108R

Category

Airplane

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Amarillo

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Not Reported

NTSB number

FTW01FA003

1 person died.

The pilot's loss of control due to spatial disorientation. Contributing factors were the low ceilings, the dark night illumination, the lack of visual cues, and the pilot's lack of instrument flight qualification or experience.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

Dark night conditions prevailed under overcast skies when the non-instrument rated private pilot took off to fly his single engine airplane form his private airstrip to an airport located 29 nautical miles from his airfield. The pilot often used his airplane to commute to and from his place of employment. The accident occurred in a very sparsely populated area that lacked visual cues at night. The airplane impacted a level cultivated field in a nose down attitude while in a left turn, approximately 2 nautical miles north-northeast (021 degrees) from the point of departure. The 254-hour pilot had accumulated a total of 51 hours in the same make and model airplane, a total of 17.5 hours of night time, and 2.5 hours of simulated instrument time. There was no record of a distress call from the aircraft. No anomalies were found with the airframe or engine that could have contributed to the accident. Radar data indicated the airplane departed from the coordinates of the home landing strip and tracked somewhat of a direct course toward the intended destination bearing north northwest at altitudes ranging from 4,100 feet to 4,800 feet MSL. The data showed the airplane in a left turn bearing almost west for about 10 seconds before the radar returns ended abruptly. The accident site was located about 1/2 mile north of the last radar return. The radar data did not show a gradual descent. The last return showed the airplane at 4,700 feet MSL, and then no returns. The reported cloud cover in the area at the time of the accident was 1,600 feet overcast. The terrain elevation was 3,700 feet MSL.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.