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NYC89FA166

1989-07-16 · THOMASVILLE, Pennsylvania, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport THV

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO FLY THE PUBLISHED APPROACH PROCEDURE, WHICH RESULTED IN CONTROLLED FLIGHT INTO THE TERRAIN.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT OF THE PIPER PA28-236 WAS CLEARED FOR AN NDB APPROACH AND RADAR SERVICE WAS TERMINATED. THE AIRCRAFT WAS SEEN BY SEVERAL WITNESSES FLYING VERY LOW, ABOUT 1 MILE WEST OF THE INBOUND PUBLISHED APPROACH COURSE ACCORDING TO WITNESSES THE WEATHER CONDITIONS AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT WERE POOR WITH LOW VISIBILITY, DUE TO FOG AND DRIZZLE. THE AIRPORT IS EQUIPPED WITH RUNWAY STROBE LIGHTS, BUT THERE WERE NO WITNESSES THAT COULD REMEMBER IF THEY WERE ON OR OFF AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. WHEN LAST SEEN THE AIRCRAFT WAS FLYING LOW PERPENDICULAR (EAST) TO THE INBOUND COURSE, IT THEN TURNED LEFT, FLYING 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_1989_NYC89FA166.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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