Nantucket Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Nantucket, Massachusetts 02554
Friday, August 25, 2000 23:45 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot had been awake for most of the day. Prior to the flight, the pilot's wife had been injured and was medically treated and released from a hospital. The pilot and his wife departed on a visual flight rules flight plan and proceeded eastbound. As the airplane neared the destination airport, the pilot could see the entire island and airport, but filed an IFR flight plan with a Flight Service Station due to the "widely scattered, low, ground fog" in the area. While on an ILS approach, the pilot noticed that there was a patch of ground fog around the approach lights, but the entire runway surface and lights were visible. He then "descended early" and the right main landing gear struck an approach light stanchion, shearing the gear assembly off. The airplane touched down on the runway, slid about 200 feet, came to rest, and a fire ensued. Inspection of the instrument landing system the day after the accident revealed no anomalies. The weather about the time of the accident was, winds from 280 at 3 knots, 1/4 mile visibility, fog, vertical visibility 100 feet.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain the proper glide path to the runway. Factors related to the accident were the fog conditions and the pilot’s fatigue.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/25/2000
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 2345
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City NANTUCKET
Event State MASSACHUSETTS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 02554
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport NANTUCKET MEMORIAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ACK
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 48
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2336 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID ACK
Elevation of weather observation facility 48
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 100
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Obscured
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 0.25
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 15
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
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) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10029
NTSB Notification Source New England Region Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Aug 26 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 130
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jul 17 2001 8:35AM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8133Z
NTSB Number NYC00LA242
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-32-300
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-32-300
Aircraft Serial Number 32-7940272
Certified Max Gross Weight 3400
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Mar 24 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 80
Airframe Hours 2905
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name RICHARD F. PERRY
Aircraft Owner Street Address 40 CLARK STREET
Aircraft Owner City LEXINGTON
Aircraft Owner State MA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 02421
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 SEG
Departure City SELINSGROVE
Departure State PA
Departure Country
Departure Time 2115
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code ACK
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 7 2001 4:02AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 24
Runway Length 6303
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --