PLAIN CITY, OH, USA
N95644
CESSNA 152
THE NON-CERTIFIED PLT & PSGR DEPARTED THE ARPT AT NIGHT IN WX THAT WAS ABOUT 300' OVERCAST WITH 3 MI VISIBILITY & FOG. THE PLT HAD ONLY ABOUT 8.3 HRS OF FLT TIME. HE HAD NO TRAINING FOR FLT AT NIGHT. AFTER TAKEOFF, HE RADIOED A DISTRESS CALL TO THE LOCAL APCH CTL FACILITY. THE APCH CTLR ATTEMPTED TO VECTOR THE ACFT TO A SAFE LANDING. ABOUT 12 MIN LATER, THE CTLR LOST RADIO & RADAR CONTACT WITH THE PLANE. THE ACFT WAS FOUND WHERE IT HAD CRASHED IN AN OPEN FIELD. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT THE ACFT WAS IN A STEEP DSCNT WHEN IT CRASHED. THE PROP WAS TWISTED & BENT WITH CHORDWISE SCRATCHES. TOXICOLOGY TESTING OF THE PLT'S BLOOD SHOWED AN ALCOHOL LVL OF 230 MG/DL (0.230%).
POOR JUDGEMENT OF THE PILOT DUE TO CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL, FLIGHT BY THE PILOT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC), AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT DUE TO SPATIAL DISORIENTATION. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: DARKNESS, ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS, THE PILOT'S LACK OF TOTAL FLIGHT EXPERIENCE, AND HIS LACK OF EXPERIENCE/TRAINING FOR FLIGHT AT NIGHT OR IN INSTRUMENT WEATHER CONDITIONS.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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