Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Sydney Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sidney, New York 13838
Wednesday, July 18, 2001 8:35 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had conducted two VOR approaches to the airport, each to a missed approach. After the second missed approach, the controller queried the pilot if the missed approach was due to fog. The pilot advised the controller that "…there's pockets in and out but I can't get the runway in sight..." The pilot then requested, and was cleared, for a third approach. The controller requested the pilot to contact the advisory frequency at the airport, which the pilot complied. No further radio transmissions were received from the airplane. The airplane came to rest in a wooded area about 2 miles northwest of the airport, at an elevation of 1,679 feet msl. The wreckage path was orientated on a 245-degree bearing. The missed approach point for the VOR approach was located at the runway threshold. The missed approach procedure required the pilot to initiate a climbing right turn to 3,400 feet, then proceed back to the northeast, to an intersection located about 5.2 miles northeast of the airport, and hold. An FAA inspector flew the runway 25 VOR approach the day of the accident. No abnormalities with the navigation or airport facilities were noted. Review of the Airport Facility Directory revealed an airport remark for N23 that stated, "Numerous hills surround arpt up to 800 ft above arpt elevation." Witnesses described the weather about the time of the accident as "heavy fog" with the mountains surrounding the airport completely obscured.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to follow IFR procedures which resulted in a collision with rising terrain. Factors related to the accident were the rising terrain and fog.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/18/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 835 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Sidney |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 13838 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Sydney Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | N23 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 310 |
| Airport Elevation | 1027 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Abbreviated |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 843 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BGM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1636 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| 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) | 30.11 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13200 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Reg Com Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 18 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1115 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 18 2003 4:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FSDO-01 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N117HS |
| NTSB Number | NYC01FA178 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 58-TC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TK-21 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6100 |
| 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 1 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4179 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | 270 West Main Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 22 Lafayette Blvd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Williamstown |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 14221 |
| 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) | Executive/Corporate |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BUF |
| Departure City | Buffalo |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 630 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | N23 |
| Destination City | Sidney |
| Destination State | NY |
| 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 | Jul 24 2002 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25 |
| Runway Length | 4204 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |