Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ainsworth Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ainsworth, Nebraska 69210
Saturday, January 1, 2005 11:20 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The twin-engine corporate jet impacted terrain while maneuvering to land after a global positioning system (GPS) approach. The pilot reported that the airplane entered icing conditions during the approach and that the airplane descended out of instrument meteorological conditions between 300-400 feet above ground level (agl). The pilot reported that his windshield had become obscured by ice accumulation during the approach and that he "had difficulty seeing the runway." The pilot elected to land the airplane instead of executing the published missed-approach procedure. The airplane impacted terrain 439 feet short of the runway threshold while in a right turn. After the accident, there was ice accumulation on all booted airframe surfaces measuring 2-4 inches wide and 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. The upper portions of the windscreens were contaminated with ice measuring about 3/8 inch thick. The remaining airframe portions, including the heated surfaces, were free of ice accumulation. The windshield bleed air switch was selected on "High" with the pilot's side windshield heat control knob approximately mid-range. Windshield alcohol was selected "On", but the alcohol reservoir was still full upon inspection. At the time of the accident, there was an overcast ceiling of 500 feet agl, 1-3/4 statute mile visibility with mist, and an outside temperature of -08 degrees Celsius. The published minimum descent altitude (MDA) for the GPS runway 17 approach is 500 feet agl, for an airplane equipped with a lateral navigation only GPS receiver. The pilot held a private pilot certificate with multi-engine land, instrument airplane, and Cessna 500 type rating. The pilot reported having 2,200 hours total flight time and 475 hours in the same make/model as the accident airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision to continue below the minimum descent altitude (MDA) and his failure to fly the published missed-approach procedure. A factor to the accident was the pilot's improper use of windshield heat which resulted in the windshield becoming obscured with ice during the instrument approach in icing conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/1/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1120 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Ainsworth |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 69210 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423445N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0995935W |
| Event Location Airport | Ainsworth Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ANW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2589 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1130 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ANW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2589 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| 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) | 1.75 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.02 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19946 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 1 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1230 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2006 10:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Federal Aviation Adminstration - Lincoln FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N35403 |
| NTSB Number | CHI05LA050 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 551 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 551-0029 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 12500 |
| 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 | 10 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 188 |
| Airframe Hours | 5870 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jet Services, LLC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | One North 4th Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hamburg |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19526 |
| 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 | RDG |
| Departure City | Reading |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 808 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ANW |
| Destination City | Ainsworth |
| Destination State | NE |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 8 2006 7:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 6824 |
| Runway Width | 110 |
| Sight Seeing flight | -- |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |