Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Alma Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Alma, Michigan 48801
Thursday, March 24, 1988 22:22 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DRG ARRIVAL, THE PLT WAS PROVIDED VECTORS FOR AN SDF RWY 9 APCH. NO WX RPRT WAS AVAILABLE FOR THE DESTN (ALMA), BUT THE PLT WAS ADZD THE SAGINAW WX WAS: INDEFINITE CEILING, 200' OBSCURED, VIS 1/2 MI WITH FOG, TEMP 41, DEW POINT 31, WIND 100 DEG AT 8 KTS, ALTIMETER 29.90. THE PLT RPRTD THAT AFTER HE WAS CLRD FOR THE APCH, HE DSCNDD TO THE MIN DSCNT ALT (MDA) OF 1300' MSL BY USING THE AUTO-PLT. HE STATED THAT ABOUT 1 MIN PAST THE FINAL APCH FIX, HE HEARD A 'THUMP' WHICH HE THOUGHT TO BE A PSBL BIRD STRIKE. HE SAID HE INITIATED A MISSED APCH, BUT DID NOT RECALL WHETHER HE ADDED PWR OR DISENGAGED THE AUTO-PLT. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT DSCNDD INTO TREES & CRASHED ABT 2.5 MI WEST OF THE ARPT. AN EXAM OF THE CRASH SITE REVEALED THE ACFT HAD COLLIDED WITH TREETOPS, THEN PULLED UP & CONTD OVER TREES FOR ABOUT 400' & FINALLY DSCNDD STEEPLY INTO THE WOODED AREA & CRASHED IN A RIVER. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ACFT WAS FOUND. ELEV OF THE CRASH SITE WAS RPRTD AS 754'.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/24/1988 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 2222 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | ALMA |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 48801 |
| Event Date Year | 1988 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ALMA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AMN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 754 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1950 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 60 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MBS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 668 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 200 |
| 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 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 5 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1724 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 25 1988 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 37902 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N54848 |
| NTSB Number | CHI88FA082 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-23-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-23-250 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 27-7554148 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5200 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 16 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 16 |
| Airframe Hours | 3728 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HANSEN FLYING SERVICE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3999 W SEAMAN ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | ALMA |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 48801 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | HANSEN FLYING SERVICE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | GRATIOT COMMUNITY AIRPORT |
| Operator City | ALMA |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 48801 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GRR |
| Departure City | GRAND RAPIDS |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2200 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | AMN |
| Destination City | ALMA |
| Destination State | MI |
| 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 | 9 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |