Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Cape May County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Green Creek, New Jersey 08219
Tuesady, April 5, 2005 22:03 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The two private pilots departed at night in VFR conditions to practice instrument approach procedures. The pilot in the left seat held an instrument rating, and the pilot in the right seat did not. The arrival airport was surrounded by water on three sides, and at the time of the accident, the moon was below the horizon. Examination of radar data revealed that the airplane followed the southeasterly procedure track for the intermediate segment of a published localizer approach. The airplane flew through the localizer 190-degree final approach course, and did not change its heading to intercept the course for another 30 seconds. Once established on the localizer course, the airplane performed S-turns back and forth across the course throughout the approach. The airplane crossed on the east side of the final approach fix at 1,200 feet, 300 feet below the minimum altitude for the intermediate segment of the approach, and then began a constant descent of about 850 feet per minute. For the next two miles, the airplane turned gradually to the southwest, and crossed the localizer centerline at 100 feet, shortly before radar contact was lost. The minimum descent altitude for the final segment was 340 feet. The airplane crashed two miles prior to the runway of intended landing, which was equipped with pilot-controlled precision approach path indicator lighting. The wreckage path was 520 feet long through trees, with several pieces of angularly cut wood found along the wreckage path and in the engine air inlet. Examination of the wreckage revealed no pre-impact anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight crew's failure to maintain terrain clearance while executing a practice published instrument approach in night visual meteorological conditions. A factor in the accident was the dark night.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/5/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2203 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Green Creek |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08219 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390301N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0745433W |
| Event Location Airport | CAPE MAY COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WWD |
| 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 | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 23 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2155 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 190 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | wwd |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 23 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| 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) | 30.19 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19355 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 6 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1035 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2006 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Philadelphia, PA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N36725 |
| NTSB Number | IAD05FA052 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-201 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7837290 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 22 |
| Airframe Hours | 3360 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ken Marson Aero Club |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | South Jersey Regional Airport |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mount Holly |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MIV |
| Departure City | Millville |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2151 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | WWD |
| Destination City | Wildwood |
| Destination State | NJ |
| 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 | Jan 12 2006 3:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19 |
| Runway Length | 4998 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |