Miller Charles W VANS RV-7A N474JM

Summary

On 20 August 2010 at about 01:45 local time, a Miller Charles W VANS RV-7A registered N474JM, operated by Miller Charles W, was involved in an accident near El Dorado, Arkansas, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 August 2010 at 01:45

Classification

Accident

Location

El Dorado, Arkansas, United States

Nearest airport

South Arkansas Regional (ELD)

Coordinates

33.2192, -92.8078

Aircraft

Miller Charles W VANS RV-7A

Registration

N474JM

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Miller Charles W

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Eldorado → Georgetown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Bright

NTSB number

CEN10LA497

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance with trees on takeoff at night. Contributing factors were fatigue and the pilot's lack of recent nighttime experience.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was on a 968-mile cross-country flight and stopped at an airport to purchase fuel before departing on the final leg of the trip. A witness talked to the pilot on the radio as he approached the airport and again after he landed. She stated that the pilot acted confused, appeared tired, and that he even commented on how tired he was from flying all day. After refueling, the pilot had to wait approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes for storms to move through the area. It was then dark outside and, by the time the pilot departed, he had been traveling for almost 12 hours. A witness saw the airplane take off and said it used very little runway before it climbed to 300 or 400 feet before making a left turn. The witness stated that the engine appeared to be producing takeoff power and that everything sounded normal. The airplane was later reported missing and found four days later in a heavily wooded area about 500 feet west of the runway. An on-scene examination revealed no preaccident anomalies with the engine or the airplane. A review of the pilot's logbook revealed that he had accrued a total of 274.5 hours, of which, 5.5 hours were at night. The pilot's last logged flight at night (.7 hours) was almost exactly one year prior to the accident. Positive postaccident toxicology tests were likely due to post-mortem putrefaction, although insufficient specimens existed to determine conclusively.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.