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NYC91LA226

1991-08-30 · NANTUCKET, Massachusetts, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport ACK

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S DESCENT BELOW THE ILS GLIDE PATH AND HIS DELAY IN INITIATING A MISSED APPROACH WHICH RESULTED IN COLLISION WITH THE TERRAIN.

Factual narrative

PRIOR TO DEPARTURE, THE PILOT WAS ADVISED THAT THE WEATHER WAS MARGINAL AT HIS DESTINATION AND ALTERNATE AIRPORTS. HE WAS UNABLE TO LAND AT HIS DESTINATION, SO HE DIVERTED TO ANOTHER AIRPORT WITH KNOWN LOW CEILING AND VISIBILITY. DURING THE APPROACH, HE OBSERVED A 'FULL SCALE DEFLECTION IN AZIMUTH AND A FLY UP INDICATION ON THE GLIDE SLOPE NEEDLE.' HE STARTED A MISSED APPROACH, BUT THE AIRPLANE STRUCK A HILL AT THAT TIME. THE INSTRUMENT APPROACH WAS CHECKED BY THE FAA AND NO DISCREPANCIES WERE FOUND. OTHER PLILOTS MAKING THE APPROACH DID NOT REPORT ANY DIFFICULTIES. THE REPORTED WEATHER AT THE TIME WAS AT MINIMUMS FOR THAT APPROACH. THE PILOT HAD A TOTAL INSTRUMENT FLIGHT TIME OF 31 HOURS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_NYC91LA226.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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