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NYC92FA047

1991-12-14 · FALL RIVER, Massachusetts, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport FLR

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT DID NOT FOLLOW IFR PROCEEDURES AND WAS MANUVERING AT TOO LOW AN ALTITUDE TO REMAIN CLEAR OF THE TERRAIN. FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT WERE; FATIGUE, FOG AND NO VISUAL GROUND CLUES.

Factual narrative

WHILE ON AN NDB APPROACH, THE PILOT CANCELLED HIS IFR FLIGHT PLAN WHEN HE HAD THE FIELD IN SIGHT. SHORTLY AFTER RADAR SERVICE WAS TERMINATED THE PILOT REESTABLISHED RADIO CONTACT WITH ATC AND SAID HE LOST SIGHT OF THE AIRPORT. ATC INSTRUCTED THE PILOT TO CLIMB TO 2000 FEET, BUT HE DID NOT REPLY. THE LAST RADAR RETURN DEPICTED THE AIRPLANE TURNING TO THE LEFT (NORTHEAST), THE PUBLISHED MISSED APPROACH IS A CLIMBING RIGHT TURN TO AN ALTITUDE OF 1900 FEET MSL. THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED TREES ABOUT 1 1/2 MILE NORTHEAST OF THE AIRPORT. WHEN THE PILOT STARTED THE APPROACH HE HAD BEEN FLYING FOR APPROXIMATELY 5 HOUR AND 40 MINUTES, NON STOP FROM KENTUCKY. THE FLIGHT HAD BEEN FLOWN ALMOST TOTALLY IN IMC CONDITIONS, MODERATE TO SEVERE TURBULENCE, AND RIME ICE. THE APPROACH WAS ATTEMPTED DURING THE HOURS OF DARKNESS WITH LOW VISIBILITY AND NO GROUND REFERENCES. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_NYC92FA047.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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