Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Spirit Of St Louis Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chesterfield, Missouri 63005
Monday, April 11, 1994 6:03 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
BEFORE FLIGHT, THE PILOT WAS TOLD THE ILS GLIDESLOPE FOR RUNWAY 8R AT THE DESTINATION (SUS) WAS OUT OF SERVICE. DURING A NIGHT ARRIVAL, THE APPROACH CONTROLLER (APCH CTLR) ASKED IF HE WANTED AN IFR CLEARANCE; HE SAID HE DID. THE CTLR PROVIDED VECTORS FOR AN ILS 8 RIGHT APCH, BUT CLEARED THE PILOT FOR THE APCH WITHOUT ADVISING THAT THE GLIDESLOPE WAS OUT OF SERVICE. ALSO, THE CTLR DID NOT ASSIGN AN IFR CODE, SO THE LOW ALTITUDE ALERT SYSTEM WAS NOT ACTIVATED. THE PILOT FLEW THRU THE LOCALIZER (LOC) COURSE, THEN SAID HE WAS NOT RECEIVING THE LOC. THE APCH CTLR ASKED THE TOWER IF THE LOC WAS OPERATIONAL & WAS TOLD 'IT WAS IN ALARM BUT THE LOCALIZER IS UP NOW.' THE PILOT WAS REVECTORED FOR THE APCH, THEN SAID HE WAS RECEIVING THE LOC. HE WAS CLEARED AGAIN FOR THE ILS. DURING THE APCH, N9187M DESCENDED BELOW THE LOC-ONLY MINIMUM DESCENT ALTITUDE (1020') & ILS DECISION HEIGHT (662'). SUBSEQUENTLY, THE AIRPLANE HIT TREES ON AN ISLAND IN A RIVER, 2.5 MI WEST OF THE AIRPORT. THE RIVER WAS BELOW THE AIRPORT ELEVATION OF 463'.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO FOLLOW PROPER IFR PROCEDURES AND MAINTAIN PROPER ALTITUDE DURING THE APPROACH. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: DARKNESS, THE WEATHER CONDITIONS, AND FAILURE OF THE APPROACH CONTROLLER TO ISSUE AN IFR TRANSPONDER CODE TO THE AIRCRAFT WHEN HE PROVIDED THE IFR CLEARANCE, WHICH WOULD HAVE ALLOWED A LOW ALTITUDE ALERT TO BE TRIGGERED.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/11/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 603 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | CHESTERFIELD |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 63005 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SUS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 463 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 614 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 464 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 801 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 11 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 614 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9187M |
| NTSB Number | CHI94LA130 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 182P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 182P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18264732 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 30 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 11 |
| Airframe Hours | 3246 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JERSEYVILLE SPORT FLYERS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 704 PLEASANT STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | JERSEYVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 62052 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | JERSEYVILLE SPORT FLYERS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 704 PLEASANT STREET |
| Operator City | JERSEYVILLE |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 62052 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | OK5 |
| Departure City | JERSEYVILLE |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 530 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SUS |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 8R |
| Runway Length | 7005 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |