Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
William H. Morse State Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bennington, Vermont 05201
Sunday, October 25, 2009 19:10 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot entered the traffic pattern at night and was observed flying in a right-hand traffic pattern to runway 13. The Airport/Facility Directory did not direct right-hand traffic for runway 13. Witnesses observed the pilot having difficulty landing the airplane; he was flying too high on final approach and performed at least two go-arounds. The airplane was last observed with its navigation lights illuminated on the base leg as the airplane impacted trees and terrain. Two witnesses stated that the engine was running at the time of impact. The wreckage came to rest on wooded terrain, at an elevation of about 1,082 feet, or about 250 feet above the airport's elevation. If the pilot had flown the same altitude on a left-hand pattern to runway 13, at the same point in the pattern where the accident occurred, the airplane would have cleared the terrain by about 300 feet. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of preexisting mechanical anomalies. Inspection of the pilot’s logbook showed no evidence that he had previously flown approaches at the airport.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from terrain during a night approach. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s non-standard traffic pattern over higher terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/25/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1910 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bennington |
| Event State | VERMONT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 05201 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 425335N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0731550W |
| Event Location Airport | William H. Morse State |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DDH |
| 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 | 827 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1854 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DDH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 827 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| 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) | 30.12 |
| 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) | 27195 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 21 2010 8:09AM |
| User who most recently changed record | coxp |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N55479 |
| NTSB Number | ERA10FA029 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17275191 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 30 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 67 |
| Airframe Hours | 11118 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SKY TRAINING LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 126 AIRPORT RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | WEST MILFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07480-4603 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SKY TRAINING LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 126 AIRPORT RD |
| Operator City | WEST MILFORD |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 07480-4603 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | 4N1 |
| Departure City | West Milford |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | 4N1 |
| Destination City | West Milford |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 25 2010 3:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 |
| Runway Length | 3704 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |