# NTSB investigations: Airport lighting

NTSB aviation accident and incident investigations since 1962: the probable cause, findings, aircraft, crew, weather and docket of each, linked to the FAA registry and the FAA’s own reports.

## Latest cases

- [NTSB ERA26LA015](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA26LA015.md): Socata TB 10 · New Milford, CT · Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report · Oct 10, 2025 · N28170 · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s decision to depart from an unlit turf runway at night, which resulted in a loss of directional control, and subsequent runway excursion.
- [NTSB ERA23LA094](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA23LA094.md): Cessna 177 · Franklin, VA · Accident · Minor injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report · Dec 26, 2022 · N177D · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from trees during the initial climb following an aborted precautionary landing. Contributing to the outcome were the inoperative runway lights, which reduced the likelihood that the pilot could successfully land the…
- [NTSB ERA19LA144](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA19LA144.md): Robinson R22 · Clover, VA · Accident · Serious injuries · Class 3 · Limited · Final report · Apr 7, 2019 · N4047H · Destroyed
  > The pilot's inadequate visual lookout, which resulted in a collision with trees. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to takeoff at night without adequate runway lighting.
- [NTSB DCA18IA081](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DCA18IA081.md): Bombardier DHC 8 402 · Pullman, WA · Incident · No injuries · Incident investigation · Final report · Dec 30, 2017 · N412QX · No damage
  > the flight crew's misidentification of the taxiway as the landing runway due to the failure of the runway lighting that caused only the taxiway lights to be illuminated.
- [NTSB GAA16CA251](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/GAA16CA251.md): Cirrus SR22 · Church Hill, MD · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · Apr 21, 2016 · N27ML · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's decision to land on an unlighted grass airstrip at night, resulting in landing long, a loss of directional control, and collapsed landing gear producing substantial damage to the landing gear attachment point and left wing.
- [NTSB GAA16CA109](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/GAA16CA109.md): Cessna CE-208 · Hooper Bay, AK · Accident · Minor injuries · Data collection · Final report · Jan 15, 2016 · N104AN · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's failure to identify the runway, resulting in the airplane touching down a few feet to the right of the runway.
- [NTSB CEN09FA601](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN09FA601.md): Cessna T210 · Hilltop Lakes, TX · Accident · 1 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Sep 24, 2009 · N9734Y · Destroyed
  > The loss of control of the airplane in dark night light conditions due to the pilot’s spatial disorientation.
- [NTSB NYC08CA230](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC08CA230.md): Cessna 172 SP · Stevensville, MD · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · Jun 25, 2008 · N3504X · Substantial damage
  > The flight instructor's delayed decision to go around.

## The whole list in SQL

Runs in DuckDB 1.2 or later on the release's Parquet files over HTTPS:

```sql
SELECT c."ntsbNumber", c."eventDate", c."eventType", c."eventCity", c."eventStateOrRegion", a.n_number, a."aircraftMake", a."aircraftModel", c."highestInjuryLevel", c."totalFatal", c."completionStatus", c.report_url
FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = c."mKey" AND a.position = 1
WHERE c."mKey" IN (SELECT f.case_mkey FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_findings.parquet' f WHERE starts_with(f."findingCode", '03017010'))
ORDER BY c."eventDate" DESC, c."ntsbNumber" DESC
```

This list as a web page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03017010/cases

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OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.