Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Old Bridge Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Old Bridge, New Jersey 08831
Sunday, March 12, 2006 22:20 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to radar data and witnesses, the airplane entered the airport traffic pattern and attempted to land on the runway. The pilot then executed a go-around, performed a climbing right turn, and impacted trees and terrain shortly thereafter. The weather conditions reported around time of the accident included 1/8 to 1/4 mile visibility in fog. The pilot did not hold an instrument rating. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any preimpact malfunctions. With regard to night-flight in poor or marginal weather conditions, the FAA Airplane Flying Handbook FAA-H-8083-3 states, "The pilot flying under [visual flight rules] VFR must exercise caution to avoid flying into clouds or a layer of fog.… Remember that if a descent must be made through fog, smoke, or haze in order to land, the horizontal visibility is considerably less then when looking through the restriction than it is when looking straight down through it from above. Under no circumstances should a VFR night-flight be made during poor or marginal weather conditions unless both the pilot and the aircraft are certificated and equipped for flight under instrument flight rules (IFR)."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper decision to conduct visual approach and landing in instrument meteorological conditions, and his failure to maintain adequate clearance from trees and terrain during the go-around. Factors in the accident were the low cloud ceiling and fog conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/12/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2220 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Old Bridge |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08831 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 401956N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0742114W |
| Event Location Airport | Old Bridge Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 3N6 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 87 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2215 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BLM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 159 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| 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) | 0.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| 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) | 30.04 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20671 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 12 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2006 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Teterboro FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8446F |
| NTSB Number | NYC06FA078 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-34-200T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 34-7770084 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4750 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18.8 |
| Airframe Hours | 4027 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Steve Ben-Hanania |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Brooklyn |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 11214 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | CRE |
| Departure City | Myrtle Beach |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1934 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 3N6 |
| Destination City | Old Bridge |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 31 2006 4:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | ANDJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 3594 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |