Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Otsego County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gaylord, Michigan 49734
Tuesady, October 24, 2000 20:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was destroyed when it impacted trees and terrain during a precision instrument approach. The wreckage was located 0.66 nautical miles (nm) left of the course centerline and 2.44 nm from the runway threshold. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident with a visibility of 1/4 statute mile (sm) and a vertical visibility of 100 feet above ground level (agl). No anomalies were found with the airplane, engine, and systems that could be identified as existing prior to impact. Subsequent to the accident, the instrument approach was flight-tested and was fully operational with no discrepancies. The landing minimums for the instrument approach were a cloud height of 200 feet agl and a visibility of 1/2 statute mile. Air traffic control (ATC) did not issue the current weather conditions to the pilot or verify that the pilot had the current weather conditions prior to issuing the clearance for the instrument approach. The pilot was not current for operations in instrument meteorological conditions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot not maintaining proper glideslope and localizer alignment during the precision instrument approach, the pilot continuing flight below the decision height, the pilot not performing a missed approach, and the pilot not maintaining altitude/clearance from the trees and terrain. Contributing factors to the accident were the air traffic controller not issuing the current weather conditions to the pilot prior to the approach clearance, the weather conditions being below the instrument approach landing minimums, the pilot's lack of recent experience in instrument flight rules (IFR) operations and the pilot disregarding federal regulations regarding instrument currency.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/24/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2010 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Gaylord |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49734 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Otsego County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GLR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3.46 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 290 |
| Airport Elevation | 1328 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2010 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 110 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GLR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1328 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1082 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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) | 11857 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 25 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 545 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 18 2002 10:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N15900 |
| NTSB Number | CHI01FA025 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28R-200 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7335103 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 117.66 |
| Airframe Hours | 5358.4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dirty Side Down |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 Silverside Road Ste. 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GRR |
| Departure City | Grand Rapids |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1856 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | GLR |
| Destination City | Gaylord |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 31 2002 8:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 09 |
| Runway Length | 6500 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |