ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 8768
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| Date: | Friday 6 December 1974 |
| Time: | 19:30 LT |
| Type: |  Cessna 414 |
| Owner/operator: | Ragsdale Aviation |
| Registration: | N44JG |
| MSN: | 414-0019 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1969 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Near Grider Field, Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Demo/Airshow/Display |
| Departure airport: | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Grider Field Airport Pine Bluff, Arkansas (PBF/KBPF) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Cessna 414 N44JG: Written off (destroyed) 6/12/1974 when flew into trees in fog and low cloud on approach to Grider Field Airport, Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas. Aircraft caught fire on impact with trees. According to the NTSB report:
"Aircraft descended below MDA during night VOR approach. Accident happened on 2nd approach, as 1st approach was a missed approach. Pilot In Command in right front seat; Pilot at controls unknown". There were allegations that the pilots were given incorrect information by Air Traffic Control, and that, whilst flying on instruments (IFR) they had unknowingly set the altimeter incorrectly, giving a false reading as to the aircraft's altitude - the Cessna was 100 feet lower than the instruments stated. There were legal proceedings in relation to this accident (see links #6 & #7):
"It is rare for the government to be held exclusively liable for the crash of an aircraft in adverse weather. In most cases, a period of time separates the negligence of the government from that of the pilot. The pilot is therefore typically afforded some window of opportunity to avoid or escape the perilous weather situation. The size of this window and how well it is utilised by the pilot will determine whether the pilot was contributorily negligent, comparatively negligent, or solely at fault.
Thus, in order for government negligence to be the sole proximate cause of a weather-related aviation accident, the government's conduct must place the aircraft in a situation from which it has little or no chance of escape.
The case of Martin v. United States Government, presented just such an unusual scenario. In this case, two highly qualified IFR pilots were at the controls of a twin Cessna 414 (Reg. No. N44JG) when it crashed on approach to Pine Bluff Airport, Arkansas in instrument flight conditions. Both of the pilots and two passengers perished in the crash.
The representatives of the various estates settled with non-government defendants and maintained an FTCA action against the United States Government.
The flight departed New Orleans, Louisiana at 5:24 p.m. on December 6, 1974 in instrument conditions. N44JG obtained a weather briefing before departure, and minimal IFR conditions were forecast throughout Arkansas. Pine Bluff was a controlled airport, but lacked an instrument landing system for precision approaches. Prior to attempting the approach, Pine Bluff ATC supplied N44JG with an altimeter setting of 29.80 inches of mercury. In fact, the proper setting was 29.90 inches, causing the altimeter to read 100 feet higher than the actual altitude.
At the time it supplied the altimeter setting, Pine Bluff controllers knew that a special weather observation was due out shortly and that this amended report would reflect deteriorating conditions at Pine Bluff.
N44JG's last-received weather information advised of 300 foot ceilings and one mile visibility in drizzle and fog. By 7:23 p.m. this weather observation had been revised to indicate that the ceiling had dropped to zero and the sky was obscured. Nonetheless, Pine Bluff ATC failed to advise N44JG of the deteriorating condition in the course of an additional radio communication at 7:25 p.m.
When Pine Bluff controllers attempted to advise N44JG of the change in field conditions at 7:26:23, N44JG did not respond. By that time, N44JG had either crashed or was beyond recovery.
The court concluded that N44JG descended below the published minimum descent altitude (MDA) because of the incorrect altimeter setting, not due to any error on the part of the now deceased pilots, who were presumed to have complied with regulations. Accordingly, the pilots were presumed to have been in visual contact with the runway when they continued the descent below what they thought to have been MDA.
Upon identifying appropriate runway markings, the pilot in command would have been in the process of transitioning from flight by instruments (IFR) to flight by visual reference (VFR). During this critical period, the pilot was under the mistaken belief that he had 100 feet more altitude than actually available.
This mistaken belief, in combination with the fog-enshrouded trees below and cloud-obscured sky above, was held to have led to spatial disorientation and, ultimately, the loss of control and crash.
The court concluded that N44JG would have abandoned the instrument approach well before the accident, had the deteriorating weather conditions been timely reported. The inaccurate altimeter setting exacerbated the danger. Most significantly, the court rejected entirely the government's argument that the pilots of N44JG had contributed to the accident
The court noted that the pilot in command's primary responsibility was for the safe conduct of the flight, but held that the experienced pilot(s) had justifiably relied on the information provided by the Air Traffic controllers. Under the applicable law of Arkansas, contributory fault need not constitute a complete bar to recovery. The finding of no pilot negligence was facilitated by the lack of definitive proof as to which of the two pilots was actually operating the aircraft at the time of the crash.
Unable to determine which occupant should pay the penalty for contributory negligence, if any, the court refused to speculate and held the government exclusively liable".
All four persons on board (two pilots and two passengers) were killed. The above legal documents named the four persons on board as Arthur J. Allison, an employee of Ragsdale Aviation and a qualified pilot; Benjamin W. Martin, also a qualified pilot; and Homer Hendrickson and Marvin L. Smith, two non-pilots, who were associates of Martin. Registration N44JG cancelled 2/10/1975
Accident investigation:
|
Sources:
1. NTSB Identification: FTW75AF038 at https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=42976&key=0
2. http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=44JG
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grider_Field
4. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-cessna-414-chancellor-pine-bluff-4-killed
5. https://planecrashmap.com/plane/ar/N44JG/
6. https://scholar.smu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.co.uk/&httpsredir=1&article=1380&context=jalc
7. https://judicialview.com/Court-Cases/Government__Politics/Martin-v.-United-States/28/386956
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Feb-2008 12:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 03-Jul-2018 15:17 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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