WPR17FA008 — Decision Chain Behind the Fatal Mountain Crash

Ramsey Sampson Ah-Nee, 31, of Manchester, Connecticut, had just earned his commercial and flight instructor certificates when he planned a flight home from Vermont on May 20, 2018. The designated pilot examiner who had checked him out reviewed the weather and told him to wait two days. Ah-Nee flew the next day instead.

Accident Facts

Three Briefings, One Warning, and a Decision

Before departing, Ah-Nee received three separate weather briefings. All three flagged instrument flight rules conditions with mountain obscuration along his route from the Burlington, Vermont area toward Connecticut. He was instrument-rated and current. He chose to fly the route under visual flight rules anyway.

Flight Following Into the Clouds

Ah-Nee was receiving VFR flight following from air traffic control as he proceeded southeast, in clouds, below the minimum vectoring altitude, near mountainous terrain in southern Vermont. The controller suggested a turn to the west, where terrain was lower and radar coverage more reliable.

The airplane briefly turned west, then turned back to a southeast heading. About four miles later, the controller warned him again: continuing on his present course would take him out of radar coverage.

The Second Turn

Ah-Nee asked the controller what heading to fly. The controller answered: westbound. Ah-Nee read it back — “westbound heading 270” — and turned. Radar and radio contact were lost during that second westbound turn.

The last recorded radar target showed the Piper PA-34-200T Seneca II at 3,500 feet msl and a groundspeed of 218 knots, about 1,000 feet from where the wreckage was later found at an elevation near 2,625 feet.

The Search on Bald Mountain

Vermont State Police lost contact with Ah-Nee around 3:30 p.m. that Sunday. Search crews began looking that evening and located the wreckage in the early hours of Monday morning in a heavily wooded area on Bald Mountain, near Woodford, about three miles off Route 9. Ah-Nee, who had been flying alone, did not survive.

What the Wreckage Showed

The debris path ran roughly 60 feet through the trees on a 265-degree course, consistent with a 45-degree nose-down attitude at impact. Examination of the wreckage found no evidence of a preimpact mechanical malfunction. The aircraft struck wooded, mountainous terrain and was destroyed, with a postcrash fire following the impact.

A Cause the NTSB Could Not Fully Isolate

Investigators found that Ah-Nee had entered clouds and appeared to be trying to fly clear of them. Conditions were conducive to spatial disorientation, but the NTSB could not determine with certainty whether disorientation, an uncoordinated turn, or a distraction during the second westbound turn caused the final loss of control.

Sources

• Video source (ATC/audio reconstruction)

NTSB Accident Number ERA18FA148, factual report and docket; Kathryn's Report contemporaneous coverage including local police statements; video.