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BFO85FA011

1985-01-04 · WEST POINT, Virginia, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport W97

N275MA has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (AMERICAN CHAMPION AIRCRAFT 8KCAB), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

AFTER BEING DELAYED AT LEAST 2 DAYS AT YOUNGSTOWN, OH, DUE TO MAINTENANCE PROBLEMS THE PLT DEPARTED AT APRX 1725 HRS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THE WX AT HIS DESTINATION WAS IFT TO LIFR. IN ADDITION, THE PLT WAS SCHEDULED FOR A VACATION AND HAD EXPRESSED HOPES OF DEPARTING ON IT THAT EVENING. THE ACFT WAS SEEN CIRCLING WEST POINT MUNICIPAL ARPT IN AND OUT OF LOW CLOUDS, FOG, AND/OR SMOKE FROM A NEARBY MILL. IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH TREES 6.5 MILES WEST OF THE ARPT, A WITNESS SAW RED LIGHTS, ONE ON THE REAR AND ONE CLOSE TO THE FRONT OF THE ACFT, WHICH WAS ESTIMATED TO BE FLYING AT APRX TREE TOP LEVEL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1985_BFO85FA011.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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