Pilot Debrief

PIPER PA-28-180 near Canton, CT — 2012-11-19

Final reportERA13FA064
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Date
2012-11-19
Location
Canton, CT, USA
Airport
4B9
Aircraft
PIPER PA-28-180
Registration
N8826J
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Fatal
Fatalities
2
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

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.

Contributing factors

Contributing to the accident were the dark night and the pilot's lack of recent experience flying at night.

NTSB narrative

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.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
VFR into IMC
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have opted to divert to a well-lit airport instead of continuing approach.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

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

Docket documents15

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