Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Simsbury Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Canton, Connecticut 06019
Monday, November 19, 2012 18:24 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was flying to the destination airport at night on the second day of a long cross-country trip. Radar data showed that when the airplane was about 12 miles from the destination airport, it began to descend. The airplane eventually descended into trees and terrain about 6 miles from the destination airport, at an elevation nearly 400 feet below the airport's traffic pattern altitude, and 1,400 feet below the maximum elevation figure published for that area.
A state police helicopter dispatched to search for the airplane following the accident reported that the terrain surrounding the accident site was "surprisingly" dark, and that some of the only nearby ground lighting came from a parking lot about 1 mile beyond the accident location and along the airplane’s course . According to the aeronautical information manual, lights along a straight path can easily be mistaken for runway lights at night. The pilot’s logbook indicated that he had flown 1 hour at night in the accident airplane in the preceding year. Given the pilot's lack of recent night flying experience, it is possible that he initiated the early descent because he had mistaken the nearby parking lot lights for those of the destination airport.
Postaccident examination of the airplane showed no evidence of preaccident failure or malfunction that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from terrain while performing a night visual approach to an airport. Contributing to the accident were the dark night and the pilot's lack of recent experience flying at night.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/19/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1824 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Canton |
| Event State | CONNECTICUT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 06019 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 415120N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0725241W |
| Event Location Airport | Simsbury Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4B9 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 6 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 195 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1851 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BDL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 173 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.35 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KBDL 192351Z 01003KT 10SM FEW250 02/M02 A3033 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| 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) | 31764 |
| 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 | Aug 22 2013 2:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8826J |
| NTSB Number | ERA13FA064 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-2781 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| 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 | Mar 1 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 45 |
| Airframe Hours | 2702 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DONALD J. DEROCHER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LIVE OAK |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32064-4423 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | DONALD J. DEROCHER |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | LIVE OAK |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32064-4423 |
| 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 | PTW |
| Departure City | Pottstown |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 4B9 |
| Destination City | Simsbury |
| Destination State | CT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 22 2013 2:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |