Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Somerset-Pulaski County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ferguson, Kentucky 42533
Sunday, February 16, 2003 20:02 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane joined the inbound course for the GPS instrument approach between the intermediate approach fix and the final approach fix, and maintained an altitude about 200 feet below the sector minimum. The last radar return revealed the airplane to be about 3/4 nautical miles beyond the final approach fix, approximately 1,000 feet left of course centerline. An initial tree strike was found about 1 nautical mile before the missed approach point, about 700 feet left of course centerline, at an elevation about 480 feet below the minimum decent altitude. Witnesses reported seeing the airplane flying at a "very low altitude" just prior to its impact with hilly terrain, and also described the sound of the airplane's engines as "really loud" and "a constant roar." Night instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. There was no evidence of mechanical malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to follow the instrument approach procedure, which resulted in an early descent into trees and terrain. Factors included the low ceiling and the night lighting conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/16/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2002 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Ferguson |
| Event State | KENTUCKY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 42533 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 370423N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0843503W |
| Event Location Airport | Somerset-Pulaski County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SME |
| 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 | 45 |
| Airport Elevation | 927 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Abbreviated |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1958 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SME |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 927 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.88 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | 0000kt 7sm ovc007 02/02 A2988 rmk a02 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total All | 7 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16529 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Southern Region Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 16 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Southern Region |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N421TJ |
| NTSB Number | IAD03FA032 |
| 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 | 421 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 421-0051 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6800 |
| 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 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 210 |
| Airframe Hours | 4129 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Great Northern Aircraft, Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1705 East Main Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Griffith |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46319 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Shalabh N. Agarwal |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Valparaiso |
| Operator State | IN |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 46383 |
| 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 | 05C |
| Departure City | Griffith-Merril |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SME |
| Destination City | Somerset |
| Destination State | KY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 8 2004 10:18AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 5600 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |