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NYC87LA261

1987-09-19 · FITCHBURG, Massachusetts, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport FIT

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

DRG ARRIVAL, THE PLT WAS CLRD FOR AN NDB-A APCH TO FITCHBURG MUNI ARPT. THE NDB WAS LOCATED ON THE ARPT & THE ARPT ELEV WAS 350'. THE MIN DSCNT ALT (MDA) WAS 1140' MSL. THE APCH PROCEDURE WAS TO GO OUTBND FM THE NDB ON A 137 DEG BEARING, MAKE A PROCEDURE TURN, THEN TRACK INBND ON A FINAL APCH COURSE OF 317 DEG. THE MISSED APCH PROCEDURE WAS TO MAKE A CLIMBING RIGHT TURN TO 2500', DIRECT TO THE NDB, THEN HOLD. THE PLT BEGAN THE APCH & THOUGHT HE HAD PROCEEDED TO THE MISSED APCH POINT OVER THE ARPT WHEN THE ACDNT OCCURRED. HOWEVER, THE ACFT CRASHED IN THE SIDE OF A TREE COVERED HILL, APRX 2-1/2 MI SOUTHWEST OF THE ARPT, WHILE IN LVL FLT AT APRX 1150' MSL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_NYC87LA261.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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