History of Flight
On March 16, 2008, at 0525 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 182B, Canadian registration C-FFBC, collided with a swamp and the ground while maneuvering on a private ranch near Wildwood, Florida. The personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Marginal visual meteorological conditions (MVFR) prevailed at night. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The non-instrument rated private pilot and the passenger were fatally injured.
The flight departed Lake Wales Municipal Airport (X07), Lake Wales, Florida, at 0446. The caretaker of the ranch located the wreckage at 0845 on March 16, 2008.
A witness living about 10 miles from the site reported hearing an airplane approaching. He observed the airplane from the west, flying east with navigation and landing lights on, near the base of clouds (ceilings 800–1,000 feet). The airplane passed north of his house and began a turn north near Lake Panasoffkee, then disappeared from view with no change in engine noise.
The pilot's son stated his father called him on the evening of March 15, asking him to meet at Virginia Highlands Airport (VJI), Abingdon, Virginia, at 10:00 on March 16 to attend a NASCAR race in Bristol, Tennessee.
Radar data from Fort Green, Florida, showed the airplane departed X07 at 0446. Altitude varied from 800 to 2,400 feet between 0446:40 and 05:11:38. At 05:12:14, the airplane was at 2,000 feet and made left and right turns; radar indicated four different left-right turn sequences. The last radar contact was at 05:20:13, 20 statute miles from the accident site.
Personnel Information
The pilot, age 68, held a Canadian private pilot certificate issued July 16, 2003, with remarks "all single pilot non-high performance, single and multi-engine land and sea aeroplanes night." The FAA issued a private pilot certificate on March 9, 2004, with ratings for airplane single-engine land, single-engine sea, and multi-engine land, based on his foreign certificate. He did not hold an instrument rating. The pilot had a Canadian Medical Category 3 Certificate issued May 27, 2003, but no current FAA medical certificate.
His logbook showed 2,513.6 total hours, with 209.5 hours in the Cessna 182B (191 as pilot-in-command). Night flight totaled 37.3 hours (34.9 as PIC). His first flight in a Cessna 182 was on December 30, 2003. The last night flight was on March 11, 2008, for 0.2 hours; he flew 11.3 hours of night flight in 2007. The last instrument dual flight was March 6, 1981; the last simulated instrument flight was December 1, 2003. In the last 90 days he flew 17.3 hours; in the last 30 days, 7 hours. The day before the accident, he logged 40 minutes and attended an FAA Aviation Seaplane Safety Seminar in Lakeland, Florida.
Aircraft Information
The Cessna 182B (serial number 51657, manufactured 1959) is a four-place airplane with fixed tricycle landing gear. It was imported to Canada and registered there on October 27, 2005. Power is from a Continental O-470-L, 230-horsepower horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine. The last annual inspection was September 8, 2007; total time since manufacture at that time was 3,164.9 hours. As of March 5, 2008, total time was 3,202.7 hours; the tachometer at the crash site read 3,205.3 hours. A pitot-static check was performed August 25, 2005. A friend stated the airplane was "topped off" with fuel the night before at Sebring, Florida, but the Fixed Base Operator at Sebring said it was not.
Meteorological Information
The National Weather Service (NWS) Surface Analysis Chart for 0500 showed a low-pressure system (997 mb) off the North Carolina coast with a cold front extending southwestward across northern Florida into the Gulf of Mexico. The accident site was in the warm air sector south of the front, with westerly winds 10 knots gusting to 15 knots.
Bartow Municipal Airport (BOW), 8 miles west of Lake Wales, reported at 0435: wind 240° at 11 knots, visibility 9 miles, scattered clouds at 1,600 and 2,300 feet, temperature 23°C, dew point 22°C, altimeter 29.92 inHg.
Ocala International Airport (OCF) at 0455: wind 280° at 9 knots gusting 14 knots, visibility 10 miles, broken ceiling 1,200 feet, overcast 2,200 feet, temperature 22°C, dew point 19°C, altimeter 29.89 inHg.
Leesburg International Airport (LEE), 12 miles east of the site, reported at 0553: no wind, visibility 8 miles, broken ceilings at 1,800 and 2,300 feet, overcast at 3,000 feet, temperature 23°C, dew point 20°C, altimeter 29.91 inHg (MVFR conditions).
The NWS forecast for Gainesville Regional Airport (45 miles north) from 0200–0600 predicted winds 230° at 14 knots gusting 24 knots, visibility better than 6 miles, scattered clouds at 1,500 feet, broken ceiling 2,500 feet, and wind shear at 1,000 feet with winds 230° at 45 knots; ceiling could drop to 1,500 feet broken.
WSR88D radar detected no weather echoes in the hour surrounding the accident, though a band of fine echoes possibly associated with a gust front or gravity wave moved southward across central Florida.
Sun and moon data: moonset at 0421; civil twilight began at 0713, sunrise at 0736. At accident time, the moon and sun were more than 11° below the horizon.
The DUATS Duty Officer reported no contact with the pilot on March 14–16, 2008.
Wreckage and Impact
The airplane collided with a swamp and a tree-lined open field in a nose-low, right-wing-down attitude on a heading of 360° magnetic. The right cabin door separated; one propeller blade separated. The debris field extended 219 feet along the crash debris line (CDL). Components scattered: right elevator and aileron fragments 25 feet; left aileron and outboard left wing 48 feet; browning of vegetation near left wing fuel cell and flap; nose wheel and right main gear at 65 feet; leading edge of left wing with pitot tube at 112 feet; left cabin door at 173 feet; main wreckage right-side up at 219 feet. Engine assembly separated, found inverted adjacent to left baggage door. The passenger was located 256 feet down the CDL; the pilot at 274 feet. Examination of airframe, flight controls, engine, and accessories found no evidence of precrash mechanical failure or malfunction.
Medical and Pathological Information
The District Five Medical Examiner performed postmortem examinations on March 17, 2008. Cause of death for both the pilot and passenger was "multiple blunt force injuries." FAA Forensic Toxicology testing: carbon monoxide and cyanide tests not performed; no ethanol detected in liver or muscle; specimens negative for basic, acidic, and neutral drugs.
Additional Information
The pilot filled out a handwritten flight plan on Kawartha Metal Corp. stationary indicating his route for the accident flight.