Cirrus Design Corp SR20 accident near Moscow, TN
On July 11, 2012, a Cirrus Design Corp SR20 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Moscow, TN. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- July 11, 2012
- Place
- Moscow, TN
- Aircraft
- Cirrus Design Corp SR20 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 35.056°N, 89.386°W
- NTSB ID
- 20120711X12055
Official records · ERA12FA438
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On July 11, 2012, about 0852 central daylight time, a Cirrus SR20, N764RV, was substantially damaged from tree and terrain impact near Moscow, Tennessee. The airplane was registered to Vaughn Aviation LLC and operated by an individual, under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 91, as a personal flight. The non-instrument rated pilot was fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Millington Regional Jetport Airport (NQA), Millington, Tennessee, about 0825, with the intended destination of Pensacola Regional Airport (PNS), Pensacola, Florida. According to an employee at NQA who talked to the pilot prior to departing on the accident flight, the pilot stated that he was in a "hurry to depart due to possible bad weather in the area." In addition, there was a weather briefing station located inside the fixed based operator at the departure airport; however, no airport personnel recalled the pilot using it on the day of the accident. A review of radar data provided by Memphis Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) indicated that a radar target identified as the accident airplane flew for about 25 minutes after takeoff from NQA at a relatively constant altitude of about 1,000 feet mean sea level (msl). Then, the radar target began to climb at 0849:55 with intermittent descents of one to two hundred feet. The last radar return at 0852:27 indicated an altitude of 2,600 feet msl, which was in the vicinity of the accident location. Several witnesses around the acci
Probable cause
The non-instrument rated pilot’s decision to continue visual flight rules flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in his spatial disorientation, a loss of airplane control, and subsequent impact with trees and terrain.
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Browse: Tennessee · Cirrus aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
