Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Igor I. Sikorsky Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Milford, Connecticut 06460
Sunday, December 30, 2001 18:10 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed on a night cross-country flight, with the destination airport located on the northern coast of Long Island Sound. He arrived from the northwest, but could not locate the airport. After several conversations with the tower controller, he was switched to approach control, and subsequently issued a clearance for the VOR Runway 29 approach. The pilot's last transmission was that he was abeam the final approach fix. Radar data indicated that the airplane proceeded off the coast about 8 miles east of the airport before initiating a gradual, descending right turn back towards the airport. During the last 2 minutes, the airplane was on a general heading of 300 degrees, descending about 1,300 feet per minute. The last radar contact, when the airplane was 200 feet above the water, was about 350 degrees magnetic, 3/4 nautical mile from the final approach fix. The final approach course was 275 degrees, and included a decision altitude of 380 feet. The frequency dialed into the airplane's VOR receiver was the same as the VOR. The night meteorological conditions included clear skies, a visibility of 10 statute miles, and a moon illumination of 99 per cent. Another pilot who was flying in the area at the same time reported that the moon and the city lights were "bright" at the time of the accident, and the airport runway lights were easily identifiable. Examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to follow the published IFR approach procedure, which resulted in a premature descent and subsequent impact with water. A factor was the night, overwater visual conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/30/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1810 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Milford |
| Event State | CONNECTICUT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 06460 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 411056N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0730137W |
| Event Location Airport | Igor I. Sikorsky Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BDR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 40 |
| Airport Elevation | 173 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1754 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 40 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BDR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 173 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 17 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.88 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -1707 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13380 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 30 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2007 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 5 2013 10:23AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FSDO-03 Windsor Locks, CT |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7427J |
| NTSB Number | IAD02FA024 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-30771 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 25 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 83.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 336.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John M. Hageman |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cleveland |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 44109 |
| 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 | BKL |
| Departure City | CLEVELAND |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1520 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BDR |
| Destination City | BRIDGEPORT |
| Destination State | CT |
| 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 | Jun 5 2013 10:23AM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29 |
| Runway Length | 4761 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |