Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mercer County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bluefield, West Virginia 24701
Friday, April 15, 1983 11:34 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PLT REPORTED THAT HE BEGAN AN ILS APPROACH TO THE MERCER COUNTY ARPT. HE STATED THAT HE PLANNED TO DESCEND TO 3200 FT MSL, THEN EXECUTE A MISSED APPROACH & RETURN TO ABINGTON, VA. THE ARPT ELEVATION WAS 2857 FT MSL. HE STATED THAT HE REMEMBERED GLANCING AT THE ALTIMETER AT 3200 FT, THAT HE LOOKED FOR THE RWY ENVIRONMENT, AND THAT HE WAS PREPARING TO EXECUTE THE MISSED APPROACH, WHEN THE ACFT SUDDENLY HIT TREES & CRASHED. THE IMPACT OCCURRED APRX 1/2 MI FROM THE APPROACH END OF RWY 23. THE WEATHER WAS: 100 FT OBSCURED, VISIBILITY 1/2 MI WITH FOG, TEMP 42 DEG, WIND FROM 280 DEG AT 5 KTS. THE ILS & VORTAC FACILITIES WERE FOUND TO BE OPERATIONAL. THE ACFT NAVCOMM UNIT, GLIDE SLOPE RECEIVER & COURSE INDICATOR HEAD WERE BENCH CHECKED & FOUND TO BE WITHIN TOLERANCES. THE ALTIMETER WAS TESTED & SHOWED A CONSIDERABLE ERROR AT EACH TEST POINT; BUT WAS NOT DISASSEMBLED TO DETERMINE IF INTERIM DAMAGE HAD OCCURRED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/15/1983 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1134 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | BLUEFIELD |
| Event State | WEST VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24701 |
| Event Date Year | 1983 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | MERCER COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BLF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 45 |
| Airport Elevation | 2857 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1133 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 230 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BLF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2857 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| 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) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | FAA |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 236 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 20396 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 9:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7353S |
| NTSB Number | ATL83FIJ02 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 182P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 182P |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18265144 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 12 1982 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 96 |
| Airframe Hours | 1270 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | INDUSTRIAL GAS AND SUPPLY CO. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 760 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BLUEFIELD |
| Aircraft Owner State | WV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 24701 |
| 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 | 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 6A8 |
| Departure City | ABINGDON |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1101 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | BLF |
| Destination City | BLUEFIELD |
| Destination State | WV |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 4742 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |