NTSB Factual Report

On September 17, 1993, at 2108 central daylight time, an experimental airplane, a Cornwell KR-2, N289DC, collided with trees approximately 1/4 mile south of Runway 1 at the Covington Municipal Airport, Covington, Tennessee. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal, night-flight operated under 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage; the pilot was fatally injured and the passenger received serious injuries. The flight departed Morgantown, West Virginia, at 1300 hours, and made an enroute refueling stop in Elizabethton, Tennessee.

According to the pilot's wife, the flight departed Morgantown later than originally planned. Initial plans were to arrive in Covington before sunset,or 1903 central daylight time. Reportedly, the flight was uneventful and all aircraft systems appeared to operate normally. While on final approach to Runway 1 the airplane collided with a tree and the ground.

Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane collided with the ground about 1/4 mile from the Runway on the extended centerline. The wreckage examination failed to disclose a mechanical problem with the airplane; aircraft and pilot logs were not recovered for examination.

Reportedly, the runway lights were on and turned up to the high position. According to airport officials, the Visual Approach Slope Indicator System (VASI) was also functional at the time of the accident. According to the pilot's current medical certificate and Statement of Demonstrated Ability, the pilot was required to wear corrective lenses for defective distant vision in his right eye,(20/400 corrected to 20/100). Despite his vision problems, the pilot's wife said that the pilot did not complain of sight problems. She further stated that he had conducted many night flights in a Mooney, which he owned about six years before the accident airplane was constructed; there were relatively few night flights conducted in the accident airplane.

The post mortem examination of the pilot was conducted by Dr. Charles Harlan, on September 20, 1993, at the Nashville Forensic Science Center, Nashville, Tennessee.

NTSB Probable Cause

THE PILOT'S MISJUDGED OBSTACLE CLEARANCE ON FINAL APPROACH. FACTORS WERE, THE DARK NIGHT, AND THE PILOT'S DEFECTIVE DISTANT VISION.