19980301002179A

Bird air taxi crashed under unknown circ, 2 POB suffered fatal inj, acft was destroyed, Presque Isle, ME. (.4)the pilot was performing a night vor/dme approach during which instrument meteorological conditions prevailed. The airplane was equipped with VOR, loran, and r-nav receivers. There were two step-downs fixes on the approach. At 13 DME the minimum altitude was 1,800 feet. At 10 DME the minimum altitude was 1,040 feet. The missed approach point was at 6 DME, and the vor/dme transmitter was located 5.5 miles beyond the airport. Radar data revealed a descent profile based upon distances from the end of the runway, rather than DME from the VOR. The airplane reached an altitude of 1,000 feet when it was 13.52 miles from the VOR, and 7.58 miles from the approach end of the runway. It subsequently impacted rising terrain at an altitude of about 900 feet, about 11.5 miles from the VOR, and 5.5 miles from the approach end of the runway. Impact damage and a post-crash fire precluded a check of the radio set up at the time of the accident. According to FAR 135 a pilot-in-command was required to have 1,200 hours total time. The investi on documented the pilot's total time as about 1,057 hours. (-23) aircraft was executing a vor/dme rwy 1 approach into pqi. The pilot descended to 1040 ft., the approach minimums, from 3000 ft. approximately 6 miles before the stepdown fix. The aircraft struck green mountain at 1040 ft. during controlled flight into terrain.