Pilot Debrief

CESSNA 340A near Ocala, FL — 2012-01-27

Final reportERA12FA161
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Date
2012-01-27
Location
Ocala, FL, USA
Airport
OCF
Aircraft
CESSNA 340A
Registration
N340HF
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Fatal
Fatalities
1
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed and altitude on final approach, resulting in an impact with terrain short of the airport.

NTSB narrative

The pilot entered the left downwind leg of the traffic pattern to land to the north. A surface wind from the west prevailed with gusts to 15 knots. Radar data revealed that the airplane was on final approach, about 1.16 miles from the runway and about 210 feet above the ground. The airplane then crashed in a pasture south of the airport, in a slight left-wing-low attitude, and came to rest upright. The cockpit and cabin were consumed in a postcrash fire. The pilot's wife, who was in the aft cabin and survived the accident, recalled that it was choppy and that they descended quickly. She recalled hearing two distinct warning horns in the cockpit prior to the crash. The airplane was equipped with two aural warning systems in the cockpit: a landing gear warning horn and a stall warning horn. The pilot likely allowed the airspeed to decay while aligning the airplane on final approach and allowed the airplane to descend below a normal glide path. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the landing gear were in transit toward the retracted position at impact, indicating that the pilot was attempting to execute a go-around before the accident. The pilot made no distress calls to air traffic controllers before the crash. The pilot did not possess a current flight review at the time of the accident. Examination of the wreckage, including a test run of both engines, revealed no evidence of a pre-existing mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Controlled flight into terrain
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted the approach when conditions became choppy and bumpy.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • ATC audio
  • ADS-B / radar
  • Photos
  • 27 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents27

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