Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Crystal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55429
Wednesday, March 28, 2001 16:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane had been cleared for the VOR approach to the airport and was executing a circling maneuver to land when it impacted the ground short of the runway. The pilot said that, during the approach for landing, the aircraft, "...started behaving strangely in a [manner] I [ wasn't] familiar with, a wobble, or flopping in [the] tail section, not like a stall." Passengers indicated that the aircraft appeared to be low and that the aircraft banked to the left and rolled 90 degrees which pointed the left wing directly at the ground. According to the voice transcripts, the pilot did not advise controllers that he had current weather information, and the controllers did not provide current weather to the pilot as required by an FAA order. Radar data shows that at 1643:03 the aircraft was at 1,200 feet MSL altitude at a ground speed of 89 knots. The pilot requested and was given the weather at the destination airport as, "about three quarters to a half mile visibility here and a ceiling six hundred broken." At 1644:47, the pilot said, "okay i got the runway now how bout ah the reverse direction is that all right." Radar data shows that at 1644:44 the aircraft was at 1,000 feet altitude at a ground speed of 82 knots. The approach procedure for the VOR or GPS-A approach to MIC lists a minimum descent altitude of 1,360 feet MSL and a minimum visibility of 1 mile for catagory A, B and C aircraft. During voice communications between the aircraft and the control tower, the pilot said, at 1643:04, "thirteen hundred feet ah we're just starting to see the ground." The airplane owner's manual lists the minimum multi-engine approach speed as 107 miles per hour (MPH) indicated airspeed (IAS). The owner's manual lists the following stall speeds with the landing gear down and flaps extended 45 degrees: 81 MPH IAS at 0 degrees of bank; 83 MPH IAS at 20 degrees of bank; 92 MPH IAS at 40 degrees of bank; 115 MPH IAS at 60 degrees of bank. A postaccident examination of the aircraft was conducted and no anomalies were found that could be associated with a preexisting condition.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot not maintaining the proper airspeed during the circling approach, the inadvertent stall and the subsequent loss of control. Factors were the pilot's decision to continue the approach in weather conditions below the approach/landing minimums, the continued flight below the minimum descent altitude, the pilot not following the approach airspeed listed in the owner's manual, the air traffic controllers not issuing weather information to the pilot, and the weather conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/28/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1645 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Minneapolis |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55429 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | CRYSTAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MIC |
| 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 | 869 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MIC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 869 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| 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) | 29.85 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11641 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 28 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2110 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 21 2002 10:26AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8247Q |
| NTSB Number | CHI01LA109 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 414 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 414-0252 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6350 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 26 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 31 |
| Airframe Hours | 4442 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Air Transport Service, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RR 1 Box 276 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Postville |
| Aircraft Owner State | IA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 52162 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AIR TRANSPORT SERVICE INC |
| 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 | CRQA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SNY |
| Departure City | Sidney |
| Departure State | NE |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1350 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | MIC |
| Destination City | Minneapolis |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - circling (IFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 26 2002 5:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32R |
| Runway Length | 3263 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |