October 22, 2006, Rocky Mount, N.C. / Cessna 182T

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • An airplane crashed in instrument conditions, resulting in fatal injuries for the private pilot and passenger, and was destroyed by impact and a post-crash fire.
  • An airport employee observed the aircraft approach well left of the runway centerline before climbing back into the clouds and departing the area.
  • The airplane subsequently collided with the ground in a nose-down attitude, creating a significant debris path and a deep crater.
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The airplane was destroyed by impact and a post-crash fire at 1535 Eastern time. Instrument conditions prevailed. The Private pilot and passenger received fatal injuries. An airport employee stated that the weather at the time was light rain, fog and mist, and that winds were light and favoring Runway 4. The employee stated that he could not see the airplane on approach until it broke through the clouds, at approximately 600 to 700 feet agl, and it was well left of the runway centerline. The airplane then climbed back into the clouds and departed the area to the northwest. The airplane collided with the ground in a nose-down attitude, creating a debris path 317 feet in length and 100 feet wide. The initial impact point with the ground left a crater six feet in diameter and four feet deep.

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