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NYC06CA006

2005-10-07 · Ithaca, New York, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport ITH

Current FAA registration · N1163A

Make / Model
MOONEY M20K
Year of manufacture
1982 · 23 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR TSIO-360 SER (225 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19820305
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A0453F

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to comply with the published instrument approach procedure, which resulted in an in-flight collision with trees.

Factual narrative

"This report is based on information received by the NTSB. Additional details may be found in the NTSB's public docket for this case. For further information, please contact the NTSB Office of Public Inquiries." While on a VOR approach, the pilot reported to the control tower that he was 3.5 miles from the airport. Shortly thereafter, the pilot saw the tops of trees about 50 feet in front of the airplane. Without sufficient time to arrest the descent, the airplane impacted trees and the ground resulting in substantial damage. The pilot additionally stated, "I can not really explain why I let the airplane descend too low. I felt comfortable with the approach throughout. I simply was too low, too far away from [the] airport." Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2005_NYC06CA006.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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