St Paul Downtown Holman Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Cottage Grove, Minnesota 55016
Tuesady, January 21, 1997 13:50 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The aircraft was destroyed when it collided with snow covered terrain during an ILS runway 32 approach to the St Paul Downtown Holman Field Airport. The pilot had planned to fly to Cambridge, Minnesota, where the airplane was based, but requested a diversion into Holman Field, due to weather. No abnormalities with any navigational equipment were found. A review of the airframe and engine did not reveal any abnormalities. Radar data indicated that the aircraft's altitude varied by more than 1,300 feet from the assigned altitude during the instrument approach. During the altitude deviations, the controller issued a heading change to the pilot. The pilot's logbook indicated that this was the pilot's first instrument approach, in actual IFR conditions, in this airplane. The pilot had flown 4.1 hours of actual instrument time in the past 2 years.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the pilot to maintain control of the airplane during an ILS approach. Factors relating to the accident were: the IFR weather conditions, the pilot's lack of recent instrument experience, and the pilot's lack of familiarity in flying the accident aircraft.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/21/1997
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1350
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City COTTAGE GROVE
Event State MINNESOTA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 55016
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ST PAUL DOWNTOWN HOLMAN
Event Location Nearest Airport ID STP
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport 140
Airport Elevation 705
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1353 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 320
Weather Observation Facility ID STP
Elevation of weather observation facility 705
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 1.5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 3
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Light
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 764
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jan 21 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1430
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:05PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1160G
NTSB Number CHI97FA058
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Mooney
Aircraft Model M20J
Aircraft Series Identifier M20J
Aircraft Serial Number 24-1273
Certified Max Gross Weight 2740
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 8 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 2339
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name DONALD J. URBAN
Aircraft Owner Street Address 23965 HUPP STREET NE
Aircraft Owner City EAST BETHEL
Aircraft Owner State MN
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 55008
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
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 MSN
Departure City MADISON
Departure State WI
Departure Country
Departure Time 1244
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code STP
Destination City ST PAUL
Destination State MN
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 32
Runway Length 6711
Runway Width 159
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --