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NYC93LA078

1993-04-10 · DURHAM, New Hampshire, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PSM

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT, WHICH RESULTED IN FUEL EXHAUSTION AND LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE FLIGHT INTO ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS, FAILURE TO OBTAIN INFLIGHT WEATHER INFORMATION, AND PILOT FATIGUE.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT MADE THE INSTRUMENT APPROACH TO HIS DESTINATION, BUT THE HE WAS UNABLE TO SEE THE RUNWAY AT LANDING MINIMUMS. HE ELECTED TO PROCEED TO HIS ALTERNATE AIRPORT, WHERE HE MADE TWO MORE APPROACHES WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO LAND BECAUSE OF LOW WEATHER CONDITIONS. HE THEN FLEW TO A THIRD AIRPORT, WHERE HE MADE THREE MORE UNSUCCESSFUL INSTRUMENT APPROACHES. ON THE LAST MISSED APPROACH, THE ENGINE QUIT AND THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED TREES. EXAMINATION OF THE AIRPLANE REVEALED NO FUEL IN THE TANKS. THE WEATHER AT THE LAST AIRPORT WAS REPORTED AS CEILING 400 FEET, OBSCURED, VISIBILITY 1/4 OF A MILE WITH LIGHT DRIZZLE AND FOG. THE ILS WAS FLIGHT CHECKED BY THE FAA AFTER THE ACCIDENT AND RATED SATISFACTORY. THE PILOT SAID HE DID NOT REQUEST CURRENT WEATHER CONDITIONS DURING THE FLIGHT. THE PILOT HAD FLOWN APPROXIMATELY 10 HOURS DURING THE 14 HOURS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1993_NYC93LA078.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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