Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mercer County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bluefield, West Virginia 24701
Friday, January 19, 2001 19:50 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot attempted two ILS approaches to the airport, and then was contacted by a lineman informing him that the pilot-controlled runway lights were on the low setting, and he would increase their intensity. The pilot then flew a third approach, and while looking for the lights at the decision height, the airplane impacted trees and came to rest on the ground. The pilot reported no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane, and stated that he may have been concentrating on "looking for the lights," while on the approach and not monitoring his altitude. The weather reported at 1952, included a visibility of 1/4 mile with fog, few clouds at 100 feet, ceiling 800 feet overcast, temperature 39 degrees Fahrenheit, dew point 37 degrees Fahrenheit, and altimeter setting 29.78 inches of mercury. The altimeter setting noted in the airplane after the accident was 29.97. A review of the FAA ILS RWY 23 approach chart for the airport indicated that the decision height for the approach was 300 feet, and the minimum landing visibility was 1 mile. According to the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM), Section 7-2-3 ALTIMETER ERRORS, "If you do not reset your altimeter when flying from an area of high pressure into an area of low pressure, your aircraft will be closer to the surface than your altimeter indicates. An inch error in the altimeter setting equals 1,000 feet of altitude."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to enter the correct altimeter setting, which resulted in continued flight below the decision height and a subsequent collision with trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/19/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1950 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Bluefield |
| Event State | WEST VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24701 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 371744N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0811227W |
| Event Location Airport | Mercer County Airport |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2857 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1952 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BLF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2857 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.78 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1677 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11242 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 19 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2002 7:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Charleston FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N99ED |
| NTSB Number | IAD01LA028 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | 34-200T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 34-7770052 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4570 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 19 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 5056 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael Shahan |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bramwell |
| Aircraft Owner State | WV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 24715 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | LWB |
| Departure City | Lewisburg |
| Departure State | WV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1830 |
| 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 | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - final approach fix (FAF)/outer marker to threshold (IFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 15 2001 4:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 4742 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |