A look at the NTSB report for a Cessna 182 crash near Lexington, Kentucky.
A Cessna 182Q Skylane similar to the accident aircraft. Photo by Christophe Mathy.
Back in March 27, 2009, Velozia Air reported on a Cessna 182Q Skylane (registration N4871N) crash that occurred on March 25th three miles west of Blue Grass Airport (LEX) in Lexington, Kentucky. The pilot was killed in the crash. Back when the original post was published, there was very little information available, but a National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) report was published back in April and we did not cover it. At the request of one of Velozia’s readers, here is the analysis of the NTSB preliminary report.
According to the report, the Cessna 182 was on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight from Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport (BWG) in Bowling Green, Kentucky to LEX. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed. The flight took off at 9:17 PM EDT and almost immediately, the air traffic controllers (ATC) reported that they were having trouble communicating with the pilot due to poor radio reception. At 9:26 PM, the pilot reported to the controllers that he was having a low voltage situation in his plane and that the battery was draining. When ATC asked the pilot if his engine was fine, the pilot reported that it was, but that his battery continued to drain and that he could lose radio communications. However, the pilot did state that if he lost communications or his instruments that he was carrying an externally powered GPS and a backup radio transmitter. About twenty minutes later, the controller stated that the plane was 37 nautical miles southwest of LEX, flying at 2,900 feet and that he continued to give the pilot directions, even though the plane’s heading and altitude were fluctuating. The pilot was asked if he wanted to declare an emergency, to which the pilot responded that he did not need to. He stated that he had exited the clouds, but was having difficulty seeing the ground (probably due to a broken cloud layer at a lower altitude). When asked again if he was sure he did not need to declare an emergency, the pilot responded that he was not declaring an emergency, but needed help getting to LEX. ATC asked the pilot if he could maintain heading and altitude and the pilot responded that he could. Soon after, the controller notified the pilot he was in a descending left turn. Controllers lost radar contact at 9:59 PM.
A witness in a home very near to the accident site said that the plane made two circles in about 30 seconds and crashed. The engine sounded normal. Weather at the time of the crash was OK visibility in rain, with very low broken clouds and an overcast layer at 1,400 feet.
Regardless of what led to it, this accident seems to be the result of the pilot’s loss of orientation while flying at night in instrument conditions with what appears to be an electrical failure aboard his aircraft. Of course, it seems the cause of the disorientation began with a loss of electrical power, but investigators will need to determine why the pilot failed to compensate for the loss of electricity as pilots are trained to during their instrument flying training. While loss of electrical power in an IMC environment is highly dangerous, there are instruments that can be used to safely fly the plane. In many electrical failure accidents, the pilot’s failure to react properly to the condition is cited as a major factor. Could it be the case here?
Of major concern is the fact the pilot failed to declare an emergency when his electrical systems failed and continued on to LEX as if the flight was normal, albeit with controller help. An electrical failure, especially in IMC, calls for an immediate landing and loss of orientation is definitely a reason for declaring an emergency. The ATC controller was on the right track when he asked the pilot if he wanted to declare an emergency. Why the pilot did not declare one is something we will never know. We don’t know if declaring an emergency would have made any difference, but it may have helped.
Velozia Air will keep you updated when the NTSB factual or probable cause report comes out. You can follow some of Velozia Air’s stories on our Facebook page: Velozia Air.
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