The private pilot was flying along a shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico in dark night conditions, with a tailwind, on an extended left base leg for landing at the airport in Destin, Florida.
Witnesses reported the pilot announced a go-around on the airport’s common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF). Radar track data depicted the Piper PA-28 crossing the approach end of the runway and then turning upwind on the far side of the runway.
The airplane continued in a left circuit around the airport, and its altitude varied between 500′ and 700′ above ground level.
Radar then depicted a left turn in a location consistent with a left base turn for a second attempt at landing. However, the airplane stopped its turn early and flew through the final approach course a second time as it tracked parallel to the coast.
Instead of completing another left circuit around the airport, the plane turned right, away from the lighted airport and out over open, dark water with no visible horizon.
The last radar targets showed the airplane over the water in a descending right turn toward the airport, with the last target at 175′ above the water, and 128 knots groundspeed.
A witness, who was monitoring the CTAF as he approached the airport in his own airplane, reported that he heard the Piper pilot announce his positions as he circumnavigated the airport.
The pilot’s last radio call announced he would be “circling somewhere.” There were no further communications from him.
A post-accident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no preimpact mechanical anomalies that would have prevented normal operation of the airplane.
The tailwind encountered on the base leg of the traffic pattern likely contributed to the pilot flying the airplane through the final approach course on two consecutive approaches. The rapid turn and descent at low altitude away from the lighted airport at night, over dark water, with no visible horizon, was consistent with the noninstrument-rated pilot experiencing spatial disorientation and a loss of airplane control.
Probable cause: The noninstrument-rated pilot’s decision to turn the airplane away from the lighted airport at low altitude, over water, with no visible horizon, in dark night conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation and a loss of airplane control.
NTSB Identification: ERA16LA106
This February 2016 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
I dont think gadgetry would have helped this senerio. It sounds like he was flying well beyond his skill level. It’s terrible that a passenger had to pay alongside for his decisions. My question is WHY did the “witness” not try render aid and try and talk him down?,,,,”circling somewhere”??? ,,, that’s pilot code for “HELP ME!” ,,, what a shame
As a low time pilot returning to flying after 20 years, these accident reports bother me because they never seem to report the type of instrument(s) that particular aircraft had. I assume that being a Piper PA-28, it still had original instruments. My question to the experts out there: Would a glass panel, even on an iPad, have made this easier for this pilot to negotiate the disorientation? It just seems to me that a visual representation of the horizon as seen on an iPad with a Stratus-type instrument would save so many of these people. Am I wrong?
YES
Thanks for the response. Very helpful. I appreciate it. Sincerely.