2020 Aeropro CZ A220 Accident Near Grafton, West Virginia (N214K)

Accident Overview and Flight History On January 27, 2020, at 1254 eastern standard time, an Aeropro CZ A220 airplane, N214K, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Grafton, West Virginia. The private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated by the pilot as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness and registration records, the pilot purchased the newly assembled airplane on January 23, 2020. The mechanic who completed the airplane’s final assembly reported that the pilot arrived at Shawnee Field Airport (1I3), Bloomfield, Indiana, on January 25, 2020, to begin taking delivery of the airplane. He reported that the pilot completed multiple training flights with a flight instructor the day before the accident. The mechanic further reported that, on the morning of the accident, the pilot planned to begin his trip toward his home in Massachusetts. He added that the pilot told him that he would be “scud running” most the morning in order to “clear some miles.” The instructor who flew with the pilot over the weekend reported that, “I was afraid he [the pilot] was going to try to scud run,” because the pilot stated to him on the morning of the accident, he was going to “scud run.” The mechanic and flight instructor reported that the pilot departed from 1I3 for the cross-country flight about 0900. They both added that, at the time of his departure from 1I3, low ceilings and visibility with fog persisted in the area. According to fixed-based operator (FBO) employees and fuel receipt records, the airplane arrived at North Central West Virginia Airport (CKB), Clarksburg, West Virginia, shortly before 1230. The pilot requested to fuel the airplane himself and he subsequently added a total of 16 gallons of 100 low-lead aviation fuel divided between both wing fuel tanks. He informed the FBO employees that he was headed to Massachusetts; however, he did not provide any specific intermediate destination. Before departing, he showed the airplane’s parachute system to one of the employees. The other employee reported that the pilot, prior to departing, stated, “your weather is bad.” Review of FAA air traffic control (ATC) communications revealed that the pilot was given clearance by a CKB tower controller to taxi and subsequently depart runway 21 under visual flight rules (VFR). The pilot departed the area to the northeast, a frequency change was approved, and there were no further communications with ATC. Review of FAA automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) tracking data revealed that the airplane departed runway 21 at 1246 and proceeded to climb to about 3,000 ft mean sea level (msl) on a northeast heading for 4 minutes. The airplane leveled off for about 1 minute, then re-entered a climb at an increased rate. For the next three minutes, the airplane continued to climb, its groundspeed slowed significantly, and the airplane’s course began to deviate to the left and right. In the final minute of the flight, the airplane reached a maximum altitude of about 5,500 ft msl, and then descended about 600 ft before climbing to 5,100 ft. Subsequently, the flight track showed the airplane complete a 180° rapidly descending left turn. The final data point was at 1254:16, which depicted the airplane about .25 nautical mile from the accident site heading south, at 4,300 ft msl.