Hinton Paul M RV 4 accident near Greenville, FL

On December 18, 2015, a Hinton Paul M RV 4 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Greenville, FL. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.

Date

December 18, 2015

Place

Greenville, FL

Aircraft

Hinton Paul M RV 4 · Airplane

Injuries

2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Destroyed

Position

30.354°N, 83.611°W

NTSB ID

20151218X21206

Official records · ERA16FA074

• Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation

Air traffic control records

• Meteorology Attachment 1 - Flightwatch Recording: Audio recording (WAV), on ntsb.gov
• Excerpts - ATC Aircraft Accident Package: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov

NTSB summary

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn December 17, 2015, about 1944 eastern standard time, an experimental, amateur-built RV-4, N77BP, collided with terrain following an in-flight loss of control near Greenville, Florida. The airline transport-rated pilot and student pilot/passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces. The airplane was registered to the pilot and was being operated as a14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. Night, instrument meteorological conditions were reported along the flight route at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Apopka, Florida (X04), about 1800 and was destined for Tallahassee International Airport (TLH), Florida. According to the pilot's father, the purpose of the flight was to fly from Meridian, Mississippi, where the pilot was based in the US Navy, to X04. The pilot would then pick up his cousin and fly her back to Meridian, where he planned to provide her initial flight training in the airplane during her holiday break from college. The flight departed Meridian, and fueling records indicated that the pilot landed at TLH and purchased fuel before continuing to X04. A former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector and accident investigator, who had also been a flight service station pilot weather briefer, was at X04 when the pilot arrived on the ramp to pick up his cousin. He reported that, as the airplane was being refueled, he told the pilot that the weather was "really bad" along a line just west of TLH and extending to the northeast, and the pilot a

Probable cause

The pilot's decision to initiate the flight into known adverse weather conditions, in an airplane that was not approved for instrument flight, which resulted in an encounter with instrument meteorological conditions and his subsequent spatial disorientation and loss of airplane control.

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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.