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BFO89FA075

1989-08-28 · LYNCHBURG, Virginia, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport LYH

N234J has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CIRRUS DESIGN SR22, built 2025), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN CLEARANCE FROM OBSTRUCTIONS BECAUSE OF IMPROPER IFR OPERATION. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS DESCENT BELOW DECISION HEIGHT, DELAY IN INITIATING THE MISSED APPROACH, AND FOG CONDITIONS.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT UNSUCCESSFULLY TRIED TWICE TO LAND ON RWY 3. HE DID A VISUAL APPROACH AND THEN AN ILS APPROACH. THE PILOT AND WITNESSES REPORTED FOGGY CONDITIONS AT THE AIRPORT. THE PILOT FLEW THE ILS APPROACH AS A THIRD ATTEMPT TO LAND WHEN THE CRASH OCCURRED. RADAR DATA SHOWED THE AIRCRAFT DESENDED TO 1100 FT MSL ON THE APPROACH, ABOUT 1/2 MILE FROM THE RWY. THE PUBLISHED DECISION HEIGHT WAS 1118 FEET. THE RADAR DATA INDICATED THE CFT PASSED EAST OF THE RWY THRESHOLD AT AN ALTITUDE OF 1000 FT MSL. THE NEXT AND LAST RADAR DATA SHOWS THE ACFT ABOUT 2300 FT BEYOND AND 400 FT EAST OF THE RWY. THE INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE AIRCRAFT STRUCK TREES EAST OF THE RWY AND THEN CRASHED IN A CORNFIELD. AN EXAMINATION DID NOT DISCLOSE EVIDENCE OF A MALFUNCTION. THE LANDING GEAR WAS RETRACTED AND THE FLAPS WERE EXTENDED 10 DEGS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_BFO89FA075.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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