Smith AEROSTAR 601P N222AQ

Summary

On 24 January 2010 at about 00:52 local time, a Smith AEROSTAR 601P registered N222AQ, operated by Gary L. Bradford, was involved in an accident near Sugar Grove, Illinois, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 January 2010 at 00:52

Classification

Accident

Location

Sugar Grove, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

Aurora Municipal Airport (KARR)

Coordinates

41.8017, -88.4617

Aircraft

Smith AEROSTAR 601P

Registration

N222AQ

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Gary L. Bradford

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Aurora → Denver

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CEN10FA108

2 people died.

The pilot's spatial disorientation and subsequent failure to maintain airplane control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The visibility at the time of the accident was 1/2 mile with fog and the vertical visibility was 100 feet. A witness stated that the pilot checked the weather, but that he appeared to be in a hurry and took off without performing a preflight inspection of the aircraft. After takeoff, air traffic control instructed the pilot to turn left to a heading of 270 degrees. The pilot reported to the controller that he was at 1,300 feet climbing to 3,000 feet and the controller cleared the pilot to climb to 4,000 feet; the pilot acknowledged the clearance. Witnesses on the ground noted that the airplane was loud; one witness located about 1.5 miles from the departure airport reported that the airplane flew overhead at treetop height. The airplane impacted trees and a residence about 2.3 miles north-northeast of the departure airport. The airplane's turning ground track and the challenging visibility conditions were conducive to the onset of pilot spatial disorientation. Postaccident inspection failed to reveal any mechanical failure that would have resulted in the accident. The pilot purchased the airplane about three months prior to the accident; at that time he reported having 72.6 hours of instrument flight experience and 25 hours of multi-engine experience, with none in the accident airplane make and model. After purchasing the airplane, the pilot received 52 hours of flight instruction in the accident airplane in 7 days. Logbook records were not located to establish subsequent flight experience.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.