At about 21:37 eastern time, a Cessna T210F crashed on Pinnacle Mountain near Hendersonville while being vectored for an ILS approach to Asheville. VMC prevailed and an IFR flight plan was filed. The pilot was killed. The airplane was cruising at 9,000 feet when the controller issued a vector for the approach and cleared the pilot to descend to 6,000 feet. The pilot reported precipitation and turbulence and was unable to hold altitude within a few hundred feet. The controller told the pilot he had descended below the MVA and that his heading was off course. Soon the pilot was flying 100 degrees to the right of the assigned heading, airspeed had increased dramatically and the airplane was below minimum vectoring altitude. By the time radar contact was lost, the pilot had turned more than 360 degrees from the assigned heading and groundspeed had varied between 170 knots and 15 knots.
September 14, Hendersonville, N.C. / Cessna Centurion
At about 21:37 eastern time, a Cessna T210F crashed on Pinnacle Mountain near Hendersonville while being vectored for an ILS approach to Asheville. VMC prevailed and an IFR flight plan was filed. The pilot was killed. The airplane was cruising at 9,000 feet when the controller issued a vector for the approach and cleared the pilot to descend to 6,000 feet. The pilot reported precipitation and turbulence and was unable to hold altitude within a few hundred feet. The controller told the pilot he had descended below the MVA and that his heading was off course. Soon the pilot was flying 100 degrees to the right of the assigned heading, airspeed had increased dramatically and the airplane was bel...
Key Takeaways:
- A Cessna T210F crashed on Pinnacle Mountain near Hendersonville while on an ILS approach to Asheville, killing the pilot.
- Despite VMC, the pilot reported precipitation and turbulence, struggling to maintain assigned altitude and heading within a few hundred feet.
- The aircraft descended below the Minimum Vectoring Altitude (MVA) and deviated significantly from its assigned course, exhibiting erratic airspeed and groundspeed variations before radar contact was lost.
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