NYC89FA190

Factual narrative

DRG ARR, THE FLT WAS VCTRD FOR AN NDB-B APCH TO THE LINDEN ARPT. AT THAT TIME, WX AT NEWARK, NJ, WAS RPRTD AS PARTIALLY OBSCD, 400' SCT, 15,000 SCT, VIS 1 MI WITH FOG, TEMP & DEW POINT 71 DEG, WND FM 220 DEG AT 3 KTS, ALTIMETER 30.09' HG. THERE WAS NO WX RPRT FOR LINDEN, BUT A PLT, WHO LNDD EARLIER, RPRTD HE HAD THE ARPT IN SITE ABT 8 MI OUT, THOUGH THERE WAS GROUND FOG. AT 0559:50, BEFORE RCHG THE FINAL APCH FIX (FAF), THE PLT (OF N759MN) WAS CLRD FOR THE APCH. AT 0600:45, RADAR SVC WAS TRMTD & THE PLT WAS CLRD TO CHG TO ADZY FREQ. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT HIT THE TOP OF A 75' TREE & CRASHED JUST SHORT OF THE FAF. A WITNESS RPRTD THAT JUST BFR THE ACDNT, THE ACFT APPEARED TO 'POP OUT' OF A CLOUD AT ABT 100' AGL IN A DSCNT. MIN DSCNT ALT (MDA) FOR THAT SEGMENT OF THE APCH WAS 2000'; MDA FOR FINAL APCH WAS 640'; ELEV OF THE CRASH SITE WAS ABT 220'. RADAR DATA SHOWED THAT THE ACFT HAD DSCNDD TO 1800' AT 0559:59, THEN WAS AT 1300' AT 0600:46. THE CONTROLLER DID NOT ENABLE THE MIN SAFE ALT WARNING (MSAW) SYS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12