Jacksonville Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Jacksonville, Florida 32229
Wednesday, March 22, 1989 22:44 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

DRG ARRIVAL, THE PLT WAS CLRD FOR AN ILS RWY 7 APCH. ALSO, HE WAS ADZD OF A DC-9 THAT WAS 4 MI AHEAD & WAS TOLD TO USE CAUTION FOR WAKE TURBULENCE. AS THE ACFT WAS ON FINAL APCH, IT DESCENDED BELOW THE ILS GLIDE SLOPE & SUBSEQUENTLY HIT TREES & CRASHED ABOUT 1.8 MI SHORT OF THE RWY. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ACFT OR ENGS WAS FOUND THAT WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN AN ACDNT. ALSO, THERE WERE NO REPORTED PROBLEMS WITH THE ILS SYSTEM & IT TESTED NORMAL AFTER THE ACDNT. THE PLT HELD A COMMERCIAL PLT CERTIFICATE WHICH WAS GOOD FOR SINGLE ENGINE LAND ACFT; HIS MULTI-ENGINE PRIVILEGES WERE AUTHORIZED AS A PRIVATE PLT, ONLY. AN NTSB PERFORMANCE STUDY SHOWED THE ACFT WAS 2 MIN & 57 SEC BEHIND THE DC-9. RADAR DATA INDCD THE ACFT DID NOT EXCEED A BANK ANGLE OF 32 DEG & NO EXCESSIVE G-VALUES WERE EVIDENT DRG THE APCH.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

IMPROPER USE OF THE IFR PROCEDURE BY THE PILOT, HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN A PROPER GLIDE PATH, AND HIS FAILURE TO IDENTIFY THE DECISION HEIGHT.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/22/1989
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 2244
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City JACKSONVILLE
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 32229
Event Date Year 1989
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport JACKSONVILLE INTL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID JAX
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 30
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2250 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 70
Weather Observation Facility ID JAX
Elevation of weather observation facility 30
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 400
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
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) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 15
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 40
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 0
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 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 459
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Mar 22 1989 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2335
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 38959
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 12:32PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N77BR
NTSB Number MIA89FA113
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
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 AEROSTAR 600
Aircraft Series Identifier AEROSTAR 6
Aircraft Serial Number 6007961193
Certified Max Gross Weight 6000
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 2
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Mar 20 1989 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 14
Airframe Hours 3891
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name TOP FLIGHT AIR SERVICE INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address VANDENBERG ARPT RR 9 BOX 148
Aircraft Owner City TAMPA
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33610
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name TOP FLIGHT AIR SERVICE
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address RR 9 BOX 14B
Operator City TAMPA
Operator State FL
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 33610
Operator Code FMTA
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code ATL
Departure City ATLANTA
Departure State GA
Departure Country
Departure Time 2108
Departure Time Zone EST
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 7
Runway Length 8000
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --