ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 150771
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| Date: | Monday 19 November 2012 |
| Time: | 18:24 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-28-180 Cherokee C |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N8826J |
| MSN: | 28-2781 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1965 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2702 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-360 SER |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | A hillside on Onion Mountain, near Simsbury, CT -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Pottstown, PA (PTW) |
| Simsbury, CT (4B9) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot was flying to the destination airport at night on the second day of a long cross-country trip. Radar data showed that when the airplane was about 12 miles from the destination airport, it began to descend. The airplane eventually descended into trees and terrain about 6 miles from the destination airport, at an elevation nearly 400 feet below the airport's traffic pattern altitude, and 1,400 feet below the maximum elevation figure published for that area.
A state police helicopter dispatched to search for the airplane following the accident reported that the terrain surrounding the accident site was "surprisingly" dark, and that some of the only nearby ground lighting came from a parking lot about 1 mile beyond the accident location and along the airplane’s course . According to the aeronautical information manual, lights along a straight path can easily be mistaken for runway lights at night. The pilot’s logbook indicated that he had flown 1 hour at night in the accident airplane in the preceding year. Given the pilot's lack of recent night flying experience, it is possible that he initiated the early descent because he had mistaken the nearby parking lot lights for those of the destination airport.
Reg N8826J expired Sep 2017.
Postaccident examination of the airplane showed no evidence of preaccident failure or malfunction that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from terrain while performing a night visual approach to an airport. Contributing to the accident were the dark night and the pilot's lack of recent experience flying at night.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=8826J&x=0&y=0
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Nov-2012 07:18 | gerard57 | Added |
| 20-Nov-2012 08:23 | Anon. | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source] |
| 20-Nov-2012 11:36 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 20-Nov-2012 13:25 | Geno | Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 28-Nov-2017 13:54 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 02-Jul-2022 17:17 | rvargast17 | Updated [Source, Damage, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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