| Date: | Friday 25 March 1988 |
| Time: | 00:22 LT |
| Type: | Piper PA-23-250 |
| Owner/operator: | Hansen Flying Service |
| Registration: | N54848 |
| MSN: | 27-7554148 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 3728 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming IO-540-C4B5 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Alma, MI -
United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Grand Rapids, MI (GRR |
| Destination airport: | Alma, MI (KAMN) |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Narrative:DRG ARRIVAL, THE PLT WAS PROVIDED VECTORS FOR AN SDF RWY 9 APCH. NO WX RPRT WAS AVAILABLE FOR THE DESTN (ALMA), BUT THE PLT WAS ADZD THE SAGINAW WX WAS: INDEFINITE CEILING, 200' OBSCURED, VIS 1/2 MI WITH FOG, TEMP 41, DEW POINT 31, WIND 100 DEG AT 8 KTS, ALTIMETER 29.90. THE PLT RPRTD THAT AFTER HE WAS CLRD FOR THE APCH, HE DSCNDD TO THE MIN DSCNT ALT (MDA) OF 1300' MSL BY USING THE AUTO-PLT. HE STATED THAT ABOUT 1 MIN PAST THE FINAL APCH FIX, HE HEARD A 'THUMP' WHICH HE THOUGHT TO BE A PSBL BIRD STRIKE. HE SAID HE INITIATED A MISSED APCH, BUT DID NOT RECALL WHETHER HE ADDED PWR OR DISENGAGED THE AUTO-PLT. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT DSCNDD INTO TREES & CRASHED ABT 2.5 MI WEST OF THE ARPT. AN EXAM OF THE CRASH SITE REVEALED THE ACFT HAD COLLIDED WITH TREETOPS, THEN PULLED UP & CONTD OVER TREES FOR ABOUT 400' & FINALLY DSCNDD STEEPLY INTO THE WOODED AREA & CRASHED IN A RIVER. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ACFT WAS FOUND. ELEV OF THE CRASH SITE WAS RPRTD AS 754'.
Probable Cause:
Accident investigation:
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| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Report number: | CHI88FA082 |
| Status: | Investigation completed |
| Duration: | 1 year and 8 months |
| Download report: | Final report
|
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Sources:
NTSB CHI88FA082
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
| 25-Mar-2024 20:54 |
ASN Update Bot |
Added |
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