Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lynchburg Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lynchburg, Virginia 24502
Monday, August 28, 1989 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT UNSUCCESSFULLY TRIED TWICE TO LAND ON RWY 3. HE DID A VISUAL APPROACH AND THEN AN ILS APPROACH. THE PILOT AND WITNESSES REPORTED FOGGY CONDITIONS AT THE AIRPORT. THE PILOT FLEW THE ILS APPROACH AS A THIRD ATTEMPT TO LAND WHEN THE CRASH OCCURRED. RADAR DATA SHOWED THE AIRCRAFT DESENDED TO 1100 FT MSL ON THE APPROACH, ABOUT 1/2 MILE FROM THE RWY. THE PUBLISHED DECISION HEIGHT WAS 1118 FEET. THE RADAR DATA INDICATED THE CFT PASSED EAST OF THE RWY THRESHOLD AT AN ALTITUDE OF 1000 FT MSL. THE NEXT AND LAST RADAR DATA SHOWS THE ACFT ABOUT 2300 FT BEYOND AND 400 FT EAST OF THE RWY. THE INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE AIRCRAFT STRUCK TREES EAST OF THE RWY AND THEN CRASHED IN A CORNFIELD. AN EXAMINATION DID NOT DISCLOSE EVIDENCE OF A MALFUNCTION. THE LANDING GEAR WAS RETRACTED AND THE FLAPS WERE EXTENDED 10 DEGS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN CLEARANCE FROM OBSTRUCTIONS BECAUSE OF IMPROPER IFR OPERATION. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS DESCENT BELOW DECISION HEIGHT, DELAY IN INITIATING THE MISSED APPROACH, AND FOG CONDITIONS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/28/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 45 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | LYNCHBURG |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24502 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LYNCHBURG |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LYH |
| 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 | 930 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2250 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LYH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2244 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 28 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 41946 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N234J |
| NTSB Number | BFO89FA075 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31-350 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-31-350 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-7952021 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7000 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| 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 | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BAY LAND AVIATION, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RT. 4 BOX 152 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SALISBURY |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 21801 |
| 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 | 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 | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SBY |
| Departure City | SALISBURY |
| Departure State | MD |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2252 |
| 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 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 3 |
| Runway Length | 5799 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |