N698X

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On November 27, 2003, about 0752 eastern standard time, a Swearingen SA-26-AT, N698X, registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, collided with trees while on approach to the Craig Airport (CRG), Jacksonville, Florida. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed. The commercial-rated pilot (Father) was fatally injured. Four passengers reported minor injuries. The flight had departed from Beaumont, Texas, at 0400 on November 27, 2003.

The passengers stated their father was aware of the fog at their destination airport. Two of the four passengers were asleep during the approach and awoke when the airplane collided with the trees. The passengers stated their father did not say anything, alerting them to any impending danger. One passenger stated she looked outside and the airplane was in the clouds and it appeared to be real foggy. A short time later the passenger heard the airplane hitting something. She looked outside and saw trees. The airplane flipped about one and a half times, and skidded before it came to a complete stop. All four passengers exited the airplane through a window.

Several witnesses interviewed by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office who live in the vicinity of the crash site reported hearing an airplane fly over their location at a very low altitude. None of the witnesses could see the airplane due to foggy conditions. One witness reported the fog being "approximately one foot off of the ground and it was very thick." Two of the witnesses reported hearing the airplane as it collided with the trees.

Review of air traffic control (ATC) transcripts, tape recordings, and an NTSB Radar Study revealed the airplane was approximately 20 miles west of Panama City, Florida, at Flight Level (FL) 210 at 0644:16. The pilot asked Jacksonville Center if Craig Airport was still fogged in. The controller informed the pilot the visibility was one-quarter of a mile, with a vertical visibility of 100 feet. The controller offered to call Craig Tower for the current Runway Visual Range (RVR), but the pilot declined the offer, and advised the controller that he would slow the airplane down and wait for the fog to lift.

The airplane was about 30 miles east of Tallahassee, Florida, at 0717:06, when the pilot advised Jacksonville Center the airplane was "slowed back". The controller informed the pilot that it would be "a good hour and a half" before the fog at CRG would burn off. The controller informed the pilot the Saint Augustine, Florida (SGJ), weather observation was, winds calm, visibility 2 miles, clear skies, temperature 61-degrees Fahrenheit, dew point temperature 59-degrees Fahrenheit and altimeter 30.13.

At 0724:30, Jacksonville Center cleared the pilot to descend at pilot's discretion to 16,000 feet. The pilot acknowledged the clearance, and the radar indicated the airplane started to descend at 0727:11. The first anomalous modes C altitude return (inaccurate mode C altitude values indicating altitudes impossible for the airplane to fly) was received by ATC radar, and sporadic anomalous returns continued throughout the remainder of the flight.

The pilot established initial radio contact with Jacksonville Approach Control at 0731:22. The east sector controller issued the pilot a heading and clearance down to 10,000 feet. The controller informed the pilot, "last weather we have at Craig, shows wind calm, visibility one quarter mile in fog, indefinite ceiling one hundred obscured, and altimeter three zero one three, expect instrument landing system (ILS) to runway 32." The pilot acknowledged the clearance and informed the controller he had Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) Sierra. The pilot further stated, "Saint Augustine sounds pretty good, so we'll take a look when we get over at Craig, hopefully some of that will burn off." The controller informed the pilot the fog would not burn off for at least an hour. The pilot asked the controller if anyone else had completed the approach to Craig and the controller stated no. The pilot replied, "I'm the first fool on turkey day, huh?"

The pilot informed Jacksonville Approach Control at 0737:23 that he could see the buildings of downtown Jacksonville. The controller informed the pilot he had just driven into work past CRG and the fog was very thick, but 3 miles north of the airport on a bridge the view was clear. The controller cleared the pilot to descend to 3,000 feet and issued vectors toward the ILS final approach course. The pilot acknowledged the clearance and informed the controller that he would like to get "a little closer and take a look," then added, "Saint Augustine is evidently pretty good." The pilot acknowledged the instructions and the radar returns were consistent with the instructions. The mode C altitude returns stopped, started again at 0746:11, indicating 3,000 feet consistent with ATC instructions.

The controller informed the pilot at 0749:11, "five miles from final approach fix, turn left heading three five zero maintain two thousand feet until established on the localizer, cleared for the ILS 32 approach." The pilot acknowledged the clearance and the controllers' radar returns were consistent with the clearance. When the airplane was 9 miles southeast of the airport at 2,000 feet within one quarter of a mile of the ILS centerline, the controller instructed the pilot to contact CRG tower. The pilot contacted the tower and was instructed to report passing the final approach fix.

Jacksonville Approach Control advised CRG tower at 0751:06, that Jacksonville International Airport was reporting an RVR of "more than six thousand feet and airplanes are making it in." In addition, Jacksonville Approach Control advised the tower controller what headings to issue to the pilot, if the pilot wanted to divert. CRG tower contacted the pilot and relayed the information from Jacksonville Approach Control. The pilot was asked what his intentions were in the event of a missed approach. The pilot replied "I got my brother bringing my Mom there into your airfield, so I don't know, what do you think is best, what's closest?" The CRG controller replied Jacksonville was closer than St. Augustine. The pilot informed the controller at 0752:03, that he would go to Jacksonville in the event of a missed approach. The controller cleared the pilot to land and there was no other radio communications between the pilot and CRG tower.

The airplane passed over ADERR intersection, the final approach fix for the ILS Runway 32 approach. The radar returns indicated the airplane was within one-tenth of a mile of the ILS centerline, and anomalous altitude values between 23,000 and 37,000 feet were received. At 0751:39, the airplane was one-half mile southeast of the final approach fix and the mode C indicated 1,700 feet. The published procedure indicates 1,900 feet is the minimum altitude to cross ADERR. The next seven mode C returns were anomalous. At 0752:16, the airplane was approximately 4.4 miles from the runway, and a mode C of 1,700 was received. The next six mode C returns were consistent with the published procedure. At 0752:58, the airplane was approximately 2.8 miles from the runway threshold and a mode C return was received indicating 33,000 feet. The next two returns did not have any mode C values. At 0753:12, a return was received indicating 400 feet. At 0753:16 a return with no mode C was received. The last mode C return was received at 0753:21, and the airplane was at 200 feet. The last two mode C returns were not considered anomalous. The mode C returns were consistent with the performance characteristics of the airplane, and the altitudes were below the glide path of ILS runway 32.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

Review of information on file with the FAA Airman's Certification Division, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, revealed the pilot was issued a private pilot certificate on October 13, 1993, with ratings for airplane single engine land and sea, airplane multiengine land and sea, and instrument airplane. The pilot held a second class medical issued on November 1, 2001, with the restriction, " must wear lenses for distant vision and possess glasses for near vision." The pilot's logbook was not located and his total time, make and model, and instrument flight time could not be determined. The pilot's last flight review was not be determined. The pilot indicated on his application for his second-class medical certificate that he had accumulated 4,500 total flight hours.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The last A and B inspections was completed on May 3, 2003, and the hour meter at the time of the inspection was 0229.7. The airplane airframe total time at the time of the inspection was 8,229.9 hours. The pitot static system check was completed on November 21, 2001. The last entry in the airframe maintenance manual was on November 18, 2003, at 263.0 hours when the right outboard flap and aileron were replaced. The total time flown since the A and B inspection on November 18, 2003, was 33.3 hours, and the total airframe hours were 8,263.2 hours.

METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

Prior to pilot departing Beaumont, Texas, the observations from Jacksonville International Airport, and Craig Municipal Airport indicated the visibility was one-quarter of a mile in fog, with overcast ceilings between 100 to 200 feet. As the aircraft transversed the Florida panhandle, St. Augustine, Florida, reported visual flight rules conditions with wind from 300-degrees at 4 knots, visibility 5 miles, scattered clouds at 5,500 feet, temperature 51-degrees Fahrenheit dew point temperature 59-degrees Fahrenheit, and altimeter 30.12.

"The Craig information Sierra, one one five zero zulu, wind calm, visibility one quarter of a mile in fog, indefinite ceiling, vertical visibility one hundred, temperature one six, dew point one five, altimeter three ze...