Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mankato, Minnesota 56001
Sunday, December 12, 1999 18:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with trees while landing at night. An on scene examination of the aircraft found no anomalies that could be associated with a preexisting condition. In his written statement, the pilot listed no mechanical malfunction. The pilot stated that he '... was experiencing the classic optical illusion of thinking I was closer to the approach end of the runway, than I actually was.' The pilot stated that the accident could have been prevented by receiving additional night dual instruction and a visual approach slope indicator (VASI) on runway 22. According to the Airport/Facility Directory (A/FD), runway 22 has a VASI system that is activated using the aircraft radio tuned to the airport common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF). According to a statement from the airport manager, three flight instructors that operated aircraft during the late afternoon and early evening on the day of the accident were contacted. All three flight instructors indicated that the VASI lights were operational at the time of their flights. On the day following the accident, the airport maintenance manager conducted a daily inspection and determined that the VASI system was operational and in working order.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilots failure to maintain a proper glidepath. Factors were the dark night and the pilots lack of recent night flying experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/12/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | MANKATO |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 56001 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| 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 | 1020 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1577 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 12 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2143 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 9:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N41910 |
| NTSB Number | CHI00LA041 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7405150 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2450 |
| 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 6 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21 |
| Airframe Hours | 1910 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BOSE GARAGE, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RR 1 PO BOX 132A |
| Aircraft Owner City | ORLEANS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 68966 |
| 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 | 67NE |
| Departure City | ORLEANS |
| Departure State | NE |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1455 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | MKT |
| 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 10 2001 12:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 3999 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |