March 2009 California crash may be due to spatial disorientation.
Piper PA-28 Dakota similar to accident aircraft. (Photo by AHunt)
Back in March 14, 2009, a Piper PA-28-236 Dakota (N129AB) crashed into a Pomona, California hillside, killing two pilots aboard the aircraft, a husband and wife (Chuck and Renee Shaffer of La Verne, California). The accident occurred at 11:15 AM PDT as the pair was flying with a group of other pilots and aircraft called the Skylarks Club. For the original post on the accident, click HERE.
According to a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) factual report published in February of this year, the aircraft departed Brackett Field Airport (POC) in La Verne, California at 11:12 AM and was headed to an airport near Mojave, California. The weather at the time was instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and the pilot had filed an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan. After receiving his IFR clearance, the pilot departed the airport and almost immediately began having problems with his clearance instructions. Investigators looked at the radar track of the aircraft and it appears the pilot may have lost his spatial orientation while flying in the clouds. After a few minutes, the plane slammed into the Pomona hillside, killing both occupants.
The male pilot held an instrument rating, but had not flown much in instrument conditions in the two years preceding the accident, while his wife was in the process of obtaining her instrument rating. According to logbook records and conversations with flight instructors, it seems the pilot may have been in violation of Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) when he departed that morning in IMC. In the years before the crash, Chuck Shaffer had accumulated only 0.8 hours of actual instrument time, 0.8 hours of simulated instrument, and performed 4 instrument approaches. FAR Part 61.57(c), which pertains to recent flight experience for instrument flight, states that within the preceding six months a pilot must have done at least six instrument approaches, holding procedures, and intercepting and tracking courses with the use of air navigation systems in order to be able to fly in instrument conditions as pilot in command. In addition, FAR Part 61.57(d), states that a pilot needs an instrument proficiency check every 12 months if certain conditions aren’t met (and they weren’t). With this regulation as a basis and Mr. Shaffer’s recorded logbook time, it appears he was in violation of FARs by flying in instrument conditions that day. The lack of recent experience while flying under instruments may have led to the disorientation that appears to have affected the pilot soon after takeoff.
From the radar data, it appears the pilot entered a graveyard spiral… a flight condition in which a disoriented pilot tries to compensate for what he is feeling (and misinterpreting) by flying in a tightening, descending turn. Normally, a pilot must trust his instruments and ignore all body signs that his airplane may be in a condition that it is not in. By trusting the instruments and verifying one against the other, the pilot can avoid the disorientation. It is also possible something went wrong with the instrument’s systems and that one or more of the instruments were not working properly. Due to the damage in the accident, it was impossible to verify if some of these instrument systems were working.
Since this is an ongoing investigation, Velozia Air will continue to keep an eye on it.
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