Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Westchester County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Armonk, New York 10504
Saturday, April 23, 2005 15:17 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor was conducting an instrument training flight with a student pilot. At 1513:45, the airplane was on the ILS Runway 16 approach, when the pilot contacted the air traffic control tower. The airplane was subsequently cleared to land, and the controller also informed the flight instructor that the pilot of a landing Cessna Citation reported that he "broke out" at 200 feet. At 1517:25, the controller observed the airplane's radar target at 900 feet. He then issued the pilot a low altitude alert and provided the current altimeter setting. The pilot acknowledged the transmission, read back the altimeter setting, and reported that he was at an altitude of 800 feet. There were no further communications from the pilot, and the airplane's last radar target was observed at 1517:39, at an altitude of 600 feet. The airplane impacted trees and came to rest in a wooded area, about 1 mile from the approach end of runway 16. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any pre-impact malfunctions. A weather observation taken at the airport around the time of the accident, reported: wind from 190 degrees at 12 knots, gusting to 16 knots; visibility 1/2 statue mile in fog; ceiling 200 feet overcast; temperature and dew point both 12 degrees C; altimeter 29.51 in/hg. Review of the approach diagram for the ILS Runway 16 approach revealed a decision height of 639 feet msl (200 feet agl), and an approach minimum of 1,800 feet runway visual range (RVR), or 1/2-mile visibility. The flight instructor had accumulated about 815 hours of total flight experience. He had logged about 80 hours of flight time as "actual instrument conditions," which included about 7 hours of flight time, and 6 instrument landing system approaches during the preceding 90 days. The student pilot had accumulated about 32 hours of total flight experience.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight instructor's failure to maintain the proper altitude\clearance during the approach, which resulted in an in-flight collision with trees. Factors in this accident were low ceilings, fog, and gusty wind conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/23/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1517 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Armonk |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 10504 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 410513N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0734332W |
| Event Location Airport | Westchester County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HPN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 439 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HPN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 439 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 200 |
| 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) | 0.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 16 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.51 |
| 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) | 20215 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 23 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 3 2006 2:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Farmingdale |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N61AF |
| NTSB Number | NYC05FA075 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172R |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17281047 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2450 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 72 |
| Airframe Hours | 4193 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Aviation Training Enterprises of Illinios |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3N040 Powis Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | West Chiscage |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60185 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | American Flyers |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 136 Tower Road |
| Operator City | White Plains |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 10604 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ALB |
| Departure City | Albany |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1348 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HPN |
| Destination City | White Plains |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2006 6:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 6548 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |