Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Putnam County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ottawa, Ohio 45875
Sunday, October 7, 1990 22:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DURING AN IFR ARRIVAL AT NIGHT, THE PILOT WAS CLEARED FOR THE VOR RUNWAY 27 APPROACH TO THE PUTNAM COUNTY AIRPORT. THE PUBLISHED MINIMUM DESCENT ALTITUDE (MDA) FOR THE APPROACH WAS 1200 FEET MSL OR 437 FEET AGL. WITNESSES DESCRIBED THE WEATHER AS 'FOGGY' WITH DRIZZLE AND 1 MILE VISIBILITY. DURING THE APPROACH, THE AIRPLANE STRUCK TREES THAT WERE ABOUT 60 FT TALL AND 1 1/2 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF THE AIRPORT. AN EXAM REVEALED THAT INITIAL IMPACT OCCURRED WITH TREETOPS ON A HEADING OF 315 DEG IN A WINGS ATTITUDE. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE WAS FOUND. A MARK ON THE AIRSPEED GAGE INDICATED IT WAS AT THE 140 KT POSITION DURING IMPACT. BOTH PROPELLER BLADES HAD CHORWISE SCRATCH MARKS AND 'S' BENDING AT THE TIPS. THE SURROUNDING TERRAIN AT THE AIRPORT WAS FLAT AND SPARSLEY POPULATED. THE AIRCRAFT WAS BASED AT THE AIRPORT, AND THE PILOT HAD FLOWN IN THE LOCAL AREA FOR SEVERAL YEARS. NO RECORDS WERE FOUND TO DETERMINE THE PILOT'S INSTRUMENT FLIGHT OR NIGHT FLIGHT PROFICIENCY.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO FOLLOW THE PROPER INSTRUMENT PROCEDURE AND MAINTAIN THE MINIMUM DESCENT ALTITUDE (MDA) DURING AN APPROACH TO THE AIRPORT AT NIGHT IN INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/7/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2210 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | OTTAWA |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 45875 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PUTNAM COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OWX |
| 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 | 120 |
| Airport Elevation | 765 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2200 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FDY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 812 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| 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) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2157 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 7 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 43976 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 5:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N409E |
| NTSB Number | NYC91FA005 |
| 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 | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | V35B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | V35B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-9836 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | NELSON MANUFACTURING CO. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 229 SOUTH STATE STREET |
| Operator City | DOVER |
| Operator State | DE |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 19901 |
| 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 | ABE |
| Departure City | ALLENTOWN |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1930 |
| Departure Time Zone | edt |
| 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 | 27 |
| Runway Length | 4426 |
| Runway Width | 65 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |