Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 94.2; Flight Crew Total 675; Flight Crew Type 51.5
Time Pressure; Training / Qualification; Distraction; Fatigue; Physiological - Other; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Weather; Human Factors; Procedure
This trip was intended to build time and flight experience for my commercial student [in order] for him to achieve the required flight time for Commercial Part 61 certification. We departed...and landed in Florida. We were aware that a snowstorm was supposed to hit Dayton [on our planned day of departure]; so we were planning on leaving Florida early to arrive before the snow storm. On [the day before]; my student received word from a buddy that the storm was to hit earlier; so we looked into potentially flying back [a day early]. There was a line of thunderstorms stretching from Louisiana to northern Florida and South Carolina that looked to move out by morning; so we elected to postpone departure until then. [The next] morning; we saw that there were still storms blocking us along our route of flight; but there was the potential of us reaching...Georgia before the storms; so we promptly filed and left; with the intent to land sooner if the weather forced us to. We diverted to Jacksonville to wait for the thunderstorms to pass. After approximately two hours; the thunderstorms had passed and we departed towards...Tennessee. Enroute; the flying was smooth VMC with an overcast (becoming scattered) layer below. Flying at 7;000 FT MSL; I began to feel a sinus headache and sinus pressure behind my right eye as I have never felt before and we diverted...for medication. The airport was unattended and there was not a drug store within walking distance. The headache had subsided; so he and I elected to continue on and get medication at [our destination]. This was a poor decision. There was no indication that the headache had improved for any reason besides a return to normal ground-level pressure. We flew VFR...; but the recurrent pain forced an instrument approach into Athens; GA. There; we bought medication for sinus relief and ate dinner; and planned for the next stage of our flight. We were determined to get to [Ohio] by night's end. My wife had work the next morning; and my student had classes. The weather was poor already at [our destination]; but we hoped we could stay above the clouds or in between layers to avoid icing before coming in for an approach. There was also another [storm] system heading eastwards just west of our direct path.... In an oversight in judgment; not wanting to get stuck in Georgia; we elected to fly eastward around the storm; with Charleston; WV as a possible alternate should the storm block our path.... Cruising at 9;000 FT MSL...Center asked if we had onboard radar (which we did not); and reported an echo of moderate intensity directly along our route of flight; and asked for our intentions. After some discussion; we elected to turn east; away from the main storm and fly towards Roanoke; VA where there would be an FBO capable of accommodating us.... As we turned towards Roanoke; we entered IMC and started to accumulate ice. We reported the icing to ATC; requested (and received) a climb to 10;000 FT that brought us out of the clouds and we continued with the newly-planned diversion.... We broke out of the clouds at approximately 1;050 FT AGL; had the runway in sight; and proceeded to land visually. After we parked the plane; we found that we had accumulated roughly a quarter inch of clear ice on the flight surfaces. We definitely had a severe case of get-there-itis. Our planning was flawed; and we ignored several factors that would normally have told us to wait and not fly or not continue on as the weather continued to deteriorate. These factors included our insistence to return home that night; a macho attitude from me that we could outsmart the weather; ignoring the warning signs of my not feeling well; and making the poor decision to try to fly ahead of the weather instead of behind it. Fatigue may have also played a role in our less-than-comprehensive planning; as we had flown roughly 13 hours over the previous three days.... We made several bad judgments and it ultimately brought us to land inVirginia with a layer of ice.... Icing is not something to tamper with or to take lightly and I did not approach it with enough caution and concern as I should have. I will never make the mistake again. I made the decision contrary to all wisdom and tried to pursue an alternate route to 'Get there.'
A C172 instructor and student pilot; attempting to fly ahead of a building weather system; diverted to avoid worsening weather discovered a quarter inch of ice accumulation on 'flight surfaces' after landing.