Aeropro Cz A240 N72AH accident near Half Moon Bay, California

Probable cause

The non-instrument-rated pilot’s decision to depart into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in spatial disorientation and a subsequent loss of airplane control.

NTSB analysis

The sport pilot was departing on a cross-country flight about the time of a reported ¾ mile visibility, mist and a 300 foot overcast ceiling.

Recorded radar data identified the airplane during the initial takeoff ascending and turning left to an altitude of 1,100 feet mean sea level (msl). As the left turn continued to an easterly heading, the airplane descended to an altitude of about 600 feet msl. The last recorded radar target was less than a 1/4 mile from the accident site. The wreckage was located about 400 yards west of the airport on a bluff that overlooked and paralleled the runway. Examination of the accident site revealed ground scars and airplane damage consistent with a descent profile continuing to impact.

Analyses of weather information and witness statements were consistent with conditions likely to have produced restricted visibility over the area at the time of the accident. These restricted visibility conditions would have been conducive to the development of spatial disorientation, and the pilot’s subsequent loss of airplane control while turning, most likely in an attempt to return to the runway.

A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR13FA013 for the full record.