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NYC91LA078

1991-02-19 · PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pennsylvania, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport N35

N5512Y has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (MAULE MX-7-180AC), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

INTENTIONAL FLIGHT BY THE PILOT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS WHICH RESULTED IN A INFLIGHT COLLISION WITH RISING TERRAIN, WHICH WAS OBSCURED BY FOG. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOTS EVALUATION OF THE WEATHER.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT OBTAINED WEATHER INFORMATION FROM THE TV PRIOR TO DEPARTURE AND USED LORAN AS A MEANS OF NAVIGATION TO HIS DESTINATION. HE SAID HE OVERFLEW THE AIRPORT AND THEN EXTENDED SEVERAL MILES. WHILE MANEUVERING TO RETURN TO THE AIRPORT, THE AIRPLANE FLEW INTO RISING TERRAIN, STRIKING TREES. A WITNESS WHO HEARD THE CRASH DESCRIBED THE WEATHER AS FOGGY AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT WITH VISIBILITY BETWEEN 100 AND 200 FEET. THE PILOT SAID HE WAS MANEUVERING AT 3000 FEET, HOWEVER, HE STRUCK A RIDGE AT APPROXIMATELY 2200 FOOT. THE PILOT SAID THE ACCIDENT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED IF HE HAD MAINTAINED A HIGHER ALTITUDE OVER THE SCATTERED CLOUDS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_NYC91LA078.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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