Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mount Sterling Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mount Sterling, Kentucky 40353
Tuesady, October 15, 2002 17:20 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot requested, and was approved for a GPS approach. He was issued an altimeter setting, but did not acknowledge it. Radar data revealed that the airplane passed about 1 mile to the right of an intermediate approach fix, and was nearing the abeam position, about 1/2 mile to the right of the final approach fix. At both positions, the airplane was about 300 feet below the minimum segment altitude. After passing the final approach fix, the controller advised the pilot that radar contact was lost and the pilot acknowledged the transmission. No further transmissions were received from the pilot. The airplane impacted a tower, slightly left of the approach course centerline, at an elevation of about 1,350 feet. The minimum descent altitude along that approach segment was 1,800 feet. The setting found on the altimeter would have placed the airplane about 100 feet lower than it should have been. A witness stated that minutes after the accident, he looked up at the tower to check for damage, and saw that the top of it was "just in the bottom of the clouds." The airplane was certified for IFR operation; however, it was not equipped with an IFR-certified GPS receiver. A personal, hand-held computer with an antenna and integrated GPS receiver was found at the accident site. The software vendor had posted a warning on its website, which stated, "The system is not tested or approved by the FAA or any governmental agency and should not be used as a primary flight instrument."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to follow the published instrument approach procedure, which resulted in an early descent into an antenna tower. A factor was the low ceiling.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/15/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1720 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mount Sterling |
| Event State | KENTUCKY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 40353 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380554N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0835643W |
| Event Location Airport | Mount Sterling |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IOB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1019 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1718 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LEX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 979 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.85 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 934 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16089 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 15 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1745 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Louisville, KY |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6413J |
| NTSB Number | IAD03FA005 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17273870 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 27 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 34.4 |
| Airframe Hours | 7406.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Kentucky Airmotive Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 709 Airport Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mount Sterling |
| Aircraft Owner State | KY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 40353 |
| 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 | HFY |
| Departure City | Greenwood |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | IOB |
| Destination City | Mount Sterling |
| Destination State | KY |
| 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 22 2004 4:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | 5002 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |