CHI82FA350

Factual narrative

THE ACFT CRASHED INTO TREES WHILE MAKING AN ILS APPROACH TO HOUGHTON COUNTY MEMORIAL ARPT, HANCOCK, MI. THE WEATHER WAS IMC AND AN IFR FLT PLAN HAD BEEN FILED. THE TWO OCCUPANTS WERE HELD IN THE ACFT BY SEAT BELTS AND WERE FATALLY INJURED IN THE CRASH AND POST CRASH FIRE. THE FLT ORIGINATED AT BAY CITY, MI ABOUT 2 HRS & 15 MIN BEFORE THE CRASH. INBOUND TO HOUGHTON THE PILOT HAD RECEIVED A WEATHER UPDATE WITH VISIBILITY LESS THAN 1/4 MILE. WHEN ASKED IF HE WANTED TO TRY AN APPROACH HE SAID "I'LL TAKE A LOOK". AND "IF WE DON'T MAKE IT WE'LL NEED SOME PLACE TO GO". NO ALTERNATE HAD BEEN FILED ON HIS FLT PLAN. NO MORE TRANSMISSIONS WERE MADE AND 6 MINUTES AFTER THE PILOTS LAST STATEMENT A LOCAL RESIDENT CALLED HOUGHTON FSS AND REPORTED HEARING AN ACFT CRASH. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12