Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Melville, New York 11747
Saturday, May 31, 1997 21:13 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot took off at night without obtaining a weather brief or filing a flight plan. The weather at his destination, approximately 30 miles away, included low ceilings and fog. Once airborne, the pilot immediately requested an instrument flight rules clearance to his destination and was vectored for the ILS approach. En-route, the controller questioned the pilot concerning his altitude, and before turning on final course, the pilot requested the ILS frequency for his destination. Once on the tower frequency, the controller told the pilot that the airplane was east of the final course and the pilot concurred. Nothing was heard from the pilot until he announced that he was executing a missed approach procedure. The radar track of the airplane indicated that the airplane turned to the east and was last recorded on a northeast heading at 600 feet MSL. The airplane impacted the ground on a westerly heading. The airplane's maintenance logbooks indicated the pitot static system was not tested in the previous 24 months. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any mechanical problems with the airframe and engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane. Factors to this accident were night instrument meteorological conditions with low ceiling and fog.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/31/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2113 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | MELVILLE |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 11747 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 82 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2117 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FRG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 82 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.75 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1819 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 31 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6337J |
| NTSB Number | IAD97FA079 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-4746 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 18 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 97 |
| Airframe Hours | 4136 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BARR GLENN LTD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 227 ARROW STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | OCEANSIDE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 11572 |
| 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 | BDR |
| Departure City | BRIDGEPORT |
| Departure State | CT |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2045 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FRG |
| Destination City | FARMINGDALE |
| Destination State | NY |
| 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 | 14 |
| Runway Length | 6827 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |