Cessna 182 N5776B

Summary

On 8 December 2021 at about 02:24 local time, a Cessna 182 registered N5776B was involved in an accident near Statesboro, Georgia, 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

8 December 2021 at 02:24

Classification

Accident

Location

Statesboro, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Statesboro-Bulloch County (TBR)

Coordinates

32.4445, -81.7342

Aircraft

Cessna 182

Registration

N5776B

Category

Airplane

Year built

1956

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Statesboro → Zephyrhills

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

ERA22FA083

1 person died.

The pilot’s decision to initiate a visual flight rules flight into dark night instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation and subsequent loss of control shortly after takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The instrument-rated commercial pilot had conducted a cross-country flight to the airport arriving in the afternoon and, after attending a meeting, was returning to her home airport on a night visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country flight. Before the return flight, the pilot discussed with a family member her knowledge of a low cloud layer and her intention to stay low for the first 10 to 15 miles of the flight. At the time of departure, dark night conditions prevailed, and the airport was reporting an overcast cloud ceiling at 600 ft above ground level (agl). Review of automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data found that the airplane became airborne before the midpoint of the runway and turned right toward the destination airport. It then climbed to about 1,000 ft mean sea level (msl), which was about 800 ft agl, before entering a left turn about 2 miles south of the airport. The airplane continued in a left 360° tightening turn where a maximum altitude of about 1,800 ft msl was reached, which was subsequently followed by a rapid descent. Before the left 360° turn, the airplane likely entered the low cloud layer and never exited the clouds until a few seconds before it impacted with terrain. Multiple witnesses reported that the airplane’s engine noise was loud and continuous until impact. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane. Evaluation of the wreckage indicated that the airplane impacted terrain in a left turning descent at high speed. Based upon ADS-B, meteorological, and astronomical data, the pilot initiated a VFR flight into known dark night instrument meteorological conditions, which would have prevented reliable control of the airplane using external visual cues. The circling and rapidly ascending and descending flight track was consistent with a pilot who was experiencing spatial disorientation, which resulted in a loss of control in flight and a high speed impact with terrain. The pilot’s instrument and night currency could not be determined. The pilot’s toxicology report was positive for ethanol and quetiapine. Given that the ethanol was identified at a low level in muscle and that none was found in liver tissue, it is likely that the identified ethanol is from sources other than ingestion and unlikely that any effects from it contributed to the circumstances of the crash. Attempts were made to identify the underlying reason for the pilot’s use of quetiapine; however, the investigation was unable to do so. While the drug itself may cause neuropsychiatric effects, at the low levels likely present at the time of the event, it was unlikely to impair judgment. However, whether an underlying medical condition might have influenced the pilot’s decision-making could not be determined from the available information.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.