Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Essex County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wayne, New Jersey 07470
Monday, January 15, 2007 19:43 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane approached the destination airport in night instrument meteorological conditions. The pilot received a clearance for the localizer approach, and radar and global positioning (GPS) data revealed the airplane was established on the localizer course centerline. The airplane crossed the final approach fix 200 feet below the minimum descent altitude (MDA) for the fix, and over the next 1.5 miles, descended on an approximate 7-degree approach angle and a 945 feet-per-minute rate of descent. The airplane continued its descent and struck trees on a ridgeline approximately 400 feet below the intermediate MDA for that segment of the approach. A witness at the crash site saw the airplane through thick fog in a wings-level descent just prior to contact with the trees. She stated that the engine ran smoothly and without interruption. Other witnesses described thick fog along the ridgeline throughout the day prior to the accident, with visibility less than 1/8 mile. Examination of the damaged trees, the crash site, and the airplane revealed signatures consistent with engine power at ground contact. Examination of the wreckage revealed no mechanical anomalies. Post accident flight check results for the localizer approach were "Satisfactory." Further examination of air traffic control (ATC) records revealed that the pilot's first takeoff on the day of the accident was 12 hours prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to comply with the published instrument approach procedure, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/15/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1943 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Wayne |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 07470 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 405526N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0741419W |
| Event Location Airport | Essex County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CDW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 173 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1943 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CDW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 173 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.76 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23768 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 15 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2008 11:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Teterboro, NJ |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N711SK |
| NTSB Number | NYC07FA056 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-877 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 139 |
| Airframe Hours | 4935 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Berg-A-King Flying Corporation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Andrew Coppolo |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Atlantic Highlands |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 07716 |
| 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 | CLT |
| Departure City | CHARLOTTE |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1659 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CDW |
| Destination City | CALDWELL |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - final approach fix (FAF)/outer marker to threshold (IFR) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 4 2008 7:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 4553 |
| Runway Width | 80 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |