Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Fall River Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fall River, Massachusetts 02720
Saturday, December 14, 1991 17:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
WHILE ON AN NDB APPROACH, THE PILOT CANCELLED HIS IFR FLIGHT PLAN WHEN HE HAD THE FIELD IN SIGHT. SHORTLY AFTER RADAR SERVICE WAS TERMINATED THE PILOT REESTABLISHED RADIO CONTACT WITH ATC AND SAID HE LOST SIGHT OF THE AIRPORT. ATC INSTRUCTED THE PILOT TO CLIMB TO 2000 FEET, BUT HE DID NOT REPLY. THE LAST RADAR RETURN DEPICTED THE AIRPLANE TURNING TO THE LEFT (NORTHEAST), THE PUBLISHED MISSED APPROACH IS A CLIMBING RIGHT TURN TO AN ALTITUDE OF 1900 FEET MSL. THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED TREES ABOUT 1 1/2 MILE NORTHEAST OF THE AIRPORT. WHEN THE PILOT STARTED THE APPROACH HE HAD BEEN FLYING FOR APPROXIMATELY 5 HOUR AND 40 MINUTES, NON STOP FROM KENTUCKY. THE FLIGHT HAD BEEN FLOWN ALMOST TOTALLY IN IMC CONDITIONS, MODERATE TO SEVERE TURBULENCE, AND RIME ICE. THE APPROACH WAS ATTEMPTED DURING THE HOURS OF DARKNESS WITH LOW VISIBILITY AND NO GROUND REFERENCES.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT DID NOT FOLLOW IFR PROCEEDURES AND WAS MANUVERING AT TOO LOW AN ALTITUDE TO REMAIN CLEAR OF THE TERRAIN. FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT WERE; FATIGUE, FOG AND NO VISUAL GROUND CLUES.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/14/1991 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | FALL RIVER |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02720 |
| Event Date Year | 1991 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | FALL RIVER MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FLR |
| 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 | 45 |
| Airport Elevation | 193 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1745 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EWB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 80 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| 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) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2124 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 46830 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 10:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4959P |
| NTSB Number | NYC92FA047 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-23-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-23-235 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 27-560 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4800 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 2 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MILTON NOVOTNY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 19 LINDON RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | SEEKONK |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 02916 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | MILTON NOVOTNY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 19 LINDON RD. |
| Operator City | SEEKONK |
| Operator State | MA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 02916 |
| 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 | BWG |
| Departure City | BOWLING GREEN |
| Departure State | KY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1316 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| 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 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 3948 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |