Cessna 501 accident near Fairmount, GA
On February 8, 2020, a Cessna 501 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Fairmount, GA. 4 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- February 8, 2020
- Place
- Fairmount, GA
- Aircraft
- Cessna 501 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 4 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 34.462°N, 84.756°W
- NTSB ID
- 20200208X35227
Official records · ERA20FA096
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Air Traffic Control Transcript: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn February 8, 2020, at 1013 eastern standard time, a Cessna 501, N501RG, was substantially damaged after an inflight breakup near Fairmount, Georgia. The private pilot, commercial pilot, and two passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. According to a fuel receipt, the airplane was "topped off" with 104 gallons of Jet A fuel that was premixed with a fuel system icing inhibitor prior to departing on the accident flight. According to an instrument flight plan filed with a commercial vendor, the accident flight was scheduled to depart at 0930 from Falcon Field (FFC), Atlanta, Georgia, and arrive at John C. Tune Airport (JWN), Nashville, Tennessee, around 1022. Another flight plan was filed from JWN back to FFC departing at 1030 and arriving at FFC around 1119. In addition, the accident flight plan noted in the remarks section that the flight was a "training flight” and both flight plans indicated that the pilot in the right seat was the pilot-in-command. A review of air traffic control communications and radar data revealed that the flight departed FFC at 0949 (see figure 1). A controller issued local weather information and instructed the flight to climb to 7,000 ft mean sea level (msl). The controller provided a PIREP for trace to light rime icing between 9,000 ft and 11,000 ft, and one of the pilots acknowledged. The controller then instructed the flight to climb to 10,000 ft and to turn right to 020°. Figure 1 -Overview of flight track data. Magenta line depicts the a
Probable cause
The pilots’ loss of control in flight in freezing instrument meteorological conditions due to spatial disorientation and the cumulative effects of task saturation.
More accidents in GA
- Embraer EMB-120RT, Apr 5, 1991
- Cessna 208, Sep 29, 1985
- Beech 400, Dec 11, 1991
- Embraer EMB-120RT, Aug 21, 1995
- Mitsubishi MU-2B-30, Apr 20, 1982
Browse: Georgia · Cessna 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.
