Pilot Debrief

RAYTHEON A36 near San Marcos, TX — 2019-11-20

Final reportCEN20FA019
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Date
2019-11-20
Location
San Marcos, TX, USA
Airport
KHYI
Aircraft
RAYTHEON A36
Registration
N88855
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Fatal
Fatalities
1
Phase of flight
Takeoff roll

Probable cause

The pilot’s loss of control shortly after takeoff in instrument meteorological conditions for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information.

NTSB narrative

The pilot filed an instrument flight rules flight plan for the cross-country flight and received a departure clearance. A witness reported seeing the accident airplane taxi by his hangar before it departed and noted that the visibility at the time was less than the 1/4-mile reported by the airport’s weather observation facility. The airplane departed and was seen on radar before contact was lost shortly thereafter; the pilot never established radio communication with air traffic control. The airplane impacted terrain in a near-vertical attitude about 1/2-mile from the departure runway. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any pre-impact anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Low instrument flight rules conditions prevailed in the area of the departure airport, including a cloud ceiling of about 300 ft above ground level. The airplane’s sudden descent and near-vertical impact attitude are consistent with a loss of control shortly after takeoff; however, due to a lack of onboard data and complete radar data for the flight, the reason for the loss of control could not be determined based on the available information.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
VFR into IMC
First missed decision gate
Pilot should have aborted takeoff due to poor visibility conditions.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 15 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents15

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