Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Tallahassee Regional A/P Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Tallahassee, Florida 32310
Tuesady, December 23, 1997 18:14 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was executing the ILS runway 36 approach when the airplane struck a 150 foot high power line, located about 2.5 miles south of the airport. The local air traffic controller stated that shortly after clearing the accident airplane to land, the tower had a power interruption which caused the radar to blink and get skewed. She then noticed the airplane's data block disappeared. Prior to the power outage, she had been looking out the window to check the weather conditions, and did not notice any problems with the airplane. The approach controller stated he did not notice anything unusual with the airplane after handing it off to the tower. He stated the airplane's altitude appeared normal, and he did not see it deviate from the localizer. According to the supervisor, he saw a low altitude alert for the airplane, which was followed shortly by the interruption of power to the building. He did not see the airplane make any lateral deviations from the localizer. The reported weather consisted of a 500 feet overcast and 3 miles visibility. Examination of the airplane did not disclose evidence of mechanical malfunction. The minimum altitude for the approach was 376 feet above the ground. A flight test of the ILS navigational facility did not disclose anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain the proper glidepath and adequate obstacle clearance which resulted in collision with a power transmission line.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/23/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1814 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | TALLAHASSEE |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32310 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL A/P |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TLH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 81 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1808 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TLH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 81 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 700 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1665 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 23 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2004 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8074Z |
| NTSB Number | ATL98FA030 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-8090063 |
| 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 | Jul 7 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 42 |
| Airframe Hours | 2575 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HERBERT F. MORGAN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1836 HERMITAGE BLVD. STE 200 |
| Aircraft Owner City | TALLAHASSEE |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32317 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | JOSE MITJA |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 91 SAM SMITH CIRCLE |
| Operator City | CRAWFORDVILLE |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 32327 |
| 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 | CSG |
| Departure City | COLUMBUS |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1640 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | TLH |
| 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 | 36 |
| Runway Length | 6066 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |