ATL03FA068
NTSB Identification: ATL03FA068.
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Accident occurred Thursday, March 27, 2003 in Homerville, GA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 7/29/2004
Aircraft: Rockwell 690B, registration: N53LG
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

The flight was in cruise flight at 27,000 feet when the airplane encountered unforecasted severe turbulence. The pilot made a "mayday" on the airplane radio to Jacksonville Center. Within several seconds the airplane accelerated from 175 knots through 300 knots groundspeed and descended from 27,000 feet to 16,500 feet. The airplane disappeared from radar coverage and was located by Sheriff Department personnel 15 miles north of Homerville, Georgia, in a swampy area. Airframe components recovered from the accident site were submitted to the NTSB Materials laboratory for examination. The examinations revealed all failures were due to overload. Examination of the airframe revealed that the airframe design limits were exceeded. The pilot did not obtain a weather briefing before the flight departed.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

An in-flight encounter with unforecasted severe turbulence in cruise flight resulting in the design limits of the airplane being exceeded due to an overload failure of the airframe, and collision with a swampy area.

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