Pilot Debrief

BEECH S35 near Marathon, FL — 2014-03-30

Final reportERA14CA175
Sign in to save
Date
2014-03-30
Location
Marathon, FL, USA
Airport
MTH
Aircraft
BEECH S35
Registration
N8985M
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Minor
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The pilot's distraction in the cockpit while on a visual approach over water during a dark night resulting in the airplane descending until impact with the water.

NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that after takeoff the flight proceeded IFR towards the destination airport (The Florida Keys Marathon Airport), Marathon, Florida. He cancelled his IFR clearance, and performed the pre-landing checklist. While on the base leg over water during the dark night, he became distracted by the failure of the landing light. With the landing gear and flaps extended for landing but the power set to 15 inches of manifold pressure, he did not recognize the airplane was descending. When the airplane impacted the water he thought they were at 1,000 feet. He also stated that he attempted to activate the runway lights using the common traffic advisory frequency but stated he could not see them. In hindsight he stated that he must have been too low at that time to see the runway lights. According to the County of Monroe Assistant Director of Airports, the runway lights at The Florida Keys Marathon Airport come on automatically at night and remain on "step 1." Being a 14 CFR Part 139 airport, a complete night inspection is performed each Friday and Monday, and each working day in the morning a continuous inspection is performed on the runway lighting circuit. As noted in the Daily Self Inspection Reports, the airfield runway lights were functioning properly during the course of the weekend and there were no issues with the runway lighting system. The runway end identifier lights for runway 7 were out of service at that time.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Spatial disorientation
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have maintained awareness of altitude during approach.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 5 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents5

Related mishaps