CONTROLLED FLIGHT INTO TERRAIN: UNINTENTIONAL IMC AFTER TAKE OFF
This happens when a non-instrument rated pilot attempts a takeoff and intends to stay visual, but is unable due to low clouds and poor visibility.
This type of accident is typical of a pilot not expecting IMC conditions after takeoff. The pilot in this case becomes distracted, overloaded, or disoriented immediately after liftoff. The wreckage is typically found just off the end of the departure runway.
In error, the NTSB often makes reference to loss of airplane control as a LOC-I or Loss of Control inflight accident. Loss of control implies that the controls were not working properly at the time of impact. Most SD fatal crashes occur where the controls were in fact performing perfectly, and the aircraft was perfectly controllable even though the pilot positioned those controls improperly.
SOLUTION:
Commit to doing a much better job on obtaining weather briefings for current and forecast conditions. If you rotate up into IMC and are surprised, you likely made your error before boarding the plane. Preflight planning and ADM are skills that must be practiced on every flight.
Night departures are the most likely scenarios for being surprised by being IMC during a VFR departure. Practice this with a CFI or really good safety pilot where you rotate and have to transition immediately to panel.
Do not attempt to stay visual and lower the nose unless you are sure that you can afford to do that. Oftentimes the IMC conditions go all the way down to very close to the ground. If you come back out of the sky at 1200 FPM you will never be able to react in time.
Practice this maneuver by using a view limiting device, and consider flying with a view limiting device in case of emergency where you need to not be able to look outside at the reference that will be the cause of SD. Remember, SD is not caused by looking at your panel. It is caused by looking outside for a reference that is not there!
SAMPLE ACCIDENT REPORT:
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: The non-instrument-rated pilot's decision to depart into instrument 22 www.aviation101.com meteorological conditions, and his subsequent loss of control due to spatial disorientation. NTSB Accident Number: CEN17FA361.