AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2021 - 79

a more favorable picture, and he
asked ATC to confirm what he
was seeing.
" Yeah, uh, I am looking at my,
uh, weather here, if I don't land
here, uh it looks like I will be clear
here in just a little bit is that correct? " the pilot asked.
Fort Campbell responded with
the weather in Muscle Shoals:
visibility 10, ceilings at 6,000.
Nashville was even better with a
ceiling at 7,000 feet.
" So, it looks like it's much
clearer down south, " the controller affirmed.
" How about if we don't land
here and we go back up to, oh, I
don't know, thirty-five hundred
for now and let's get clear of this
stuff, " said the pilot.
Diversion abandoned, the noninstrument-rated pilot decided
to push through the weather; it
would likely be just a few minutes in the precip. If he made it to
the other side, where the weather
improved significantly, he'd be to
his destination in less than an hour
to start his vacation.
At 11:49:21 a.m., Fort Campbell
approved a VFR climb, and asked
the pilot if there was a good heading
to help him get around the weather.
" I'd say southeast, " The pilot
responded. Fort Campbell gave
him a heading of 150 degrees.
" One-five-zero, " he responded
at 11:49:48.

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It was the last call he made.
A minute later, at approximately
11:52 a.m., N04E's radar return went
into " coast, " meaning the actual
return had been lost, and the computer was making a predictive best
guess on the controller's display.
A witness on the ground heard
a " high engine revving sound " but
couldn't see the airplane because
it was in the clouds. Seconds later,
the witness heard the sound of an
impact.
Fort Campbell tried to reach
the pilot multiple times, and at
11:54 a.m., called radar contact lost
and began the process of alerting
search and rescue.

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POST-CRASH

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Soon after N04E disappeared from
radar, a special surface weather
observation was issued for
Campbell Army Airfield, located
about 16 miles southeast of the
accident site. The ceiling began
at 1,100 feet agl, with moderate
drizzle and 10 miles of visibility.
Reports indicated that the tops
were around 32,000 feet msl.
The wreckage was found near
the last radar blip; both pilot and
passenger were dead. A Bonanza
A36's never-exceed speed is 202
knots; evidence from the accident indicated a final airspeed of
211 knots.
The NTSB listed the probable cause as the non-instrument

Dig deeper

More resources on IMC hazards
The best way to avoid a spatial disorientation accident? Get an
instrument rating, and maintain proficiency in normal and partial
panel operations. Find a flight school using AOPA's Flight School
Finder (aopa.org/schools).
If you use onboard weather, make sure you understand latency,
and always double-check the timestamp on in-cockpit weather
displays. Learn about an accident where latency was an even bigger factor in the AOPA Air Safety Institute's Accident Case Study:
Time Lapse (airsafetyinstitute.org/ACS/timelapse).
Learn more about spatial disorientation in this Safety Spotlight
(airsafetyinstitute.org/spotlight/spatialdisorientation).
-AH

aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 79

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2021

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