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NYC90FA135

1990-06-19 · GREENVILLE, Maine, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 3B1

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN THE PROPER ALTITUDE, WHILE SEARCHING FOR THE DESTINATION AIRPORT AT NIGHT. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: DARKNESS, FOG OBSCURING THE DESTINATION AIRPORT LIGHTS, MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN, AND THE LACK OF VISUAL PERCEPTION AT NIGHT.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT RECEIVED RADAR VECTORS TOWARD THE AIRPORT, BUT WAS UNABLE TO SEE THE RUNWAY LIGHTS, THOUGH HE TRIED ACTIVATING THEM WITH HIS MIKE SWITCH. HE MADE SEVERAL ORBITING TURNS ABOUT 3 TO 8 MILES SOUTH OF THE AIRPORT. A WITNESS SAID THE AIRPORT WAS SHROUDED IN HEAVY GROUND FOG AND THAT THE VISIBILITY WAS POOR AT THE AIRPORT ABOUT 2 HRS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. THE PILOT WAS NOT INSTRUMENT QUALIFIED, BUT HE HAD ABOUT 66 HRS OF NIGHT FLYING EXPERIENCE. THE LAST RADAR RETURN SHOWED THE AIRPLANE AT ABOUT 1600 FT MSL, FLYING IN AN EASTERLY DIRECTION ABOUT 4 MI SOUTH OF THE AIRPORT. ON 6/24/90, THE WRECKAGE WAS FOUND ABOUT 7 MI SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF THE AIRPORT. IT HAD COLLIDED WITH A 1600 FT MOUNTAIN AT AN ELEVATION OF ABOUT 1460 FT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_NYC90FA135.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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