NTSB CAROL · Event
Event SEA90FA021
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE PILOT'S IMPROPER IFR PROCEDURE, HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN PROPER ALIGNMENT ON THE ILS APPROACH, AND HIS FAILURE TO INITIATE A MISSED APPROACHED AFTER REACHING THE LATERAL LIMITS OF THE ILS SYSTEM OR DECISION HEIGHT. DARKNESS AND DETERIORATING WEATHER WERE RELATED FACTORS.
Factual narrative
DURING ARRIVAL, THE PLT WAS VECTORED FOR AN ILS RWY 19 APCH. AFTER BEING CLEARED FOR THE APCH, HE WAS AUTHORIZED TO CHANGE TO THE ADVISORY FREQ & WAS INSTRUCTED TO CONTACT SEATTLE APCH CTL TO CANCEL THE FLT PLAN, WHEN ON THE GND. THERE WAS NO FURTHER COMMUNICATION WITH THE ACFT. SUBSEQUENTLY, IT HIT TREES & CRASHED ABOUT 1 MI SOUTHEAST OF THE ARPT. RADAR DATA SHOWED THAT AS THE ACFT WAS APCHG THE ARPT FROM THE NORTH, ITS TRACK DEVIATED TO THE LEFT OF COURSE. THE PLT DID NOT REALIGN THE ACFT WITH THE ILS COURSE LINE & THE ACFT PASSED WELL TO THE LEFT OF THE RWY THRESHOLD. IMPACT WITH TREES WAS ALONG A COURSE OF 174 DEG. ELEVATION OF THE CRASH SITE WAS 482 FT. DECISION HEIGHT FOR THE PRECISION ILS APCH WAS 688 FT; MIN DESCENT ALT (MDA) FOR A CIRCLING APCH WAS 1220 FT. AT 1954 PST, THE WX AT BREMERTON WAS IN PART: 300 FT OVC, 3 MI VIS. AT 2034 PST (12 MIN AFTER THE ACDNT), THE WX HAD DETERIORATED TO PARTIAL OBSCN, 100 FT OVC, 2 MI VIS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1989_SEA90FA021.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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