- Date
- February 9, 1982, 04:00 local (09:00 UTC)
- Place
- Newport News, VA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5218JCessna 402B
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report February 9, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820209003129A
- Case key
- 72012
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot stated that during his first ILS approach, the localizer needle fluctuated to the left. He made corrective turns to the left. When he broke out of the clouds at the decision height (dh), he observed the runway to the right and made a missed approach. At that time, he assumed that he made an error due to a cockpit distraction when he turned on his landing light. He reported the same type of problem during his second ILS approach, except the fluctuations were larger. At the dh, both of his ILS localizer needles showed that he was right of course. He saw a row of lights to his left that he thought was the runway. After he turned left and descended, he realized they were street lights. During his climb for another approach, the right wing struck a tree. He encountered the same ILS problem on a third approach, but landed safely. A check of the ILS transmitters and both receivers revealed no malfunction or failure. The plane had an autopilot front/back switch, which was reportedly set on "front".
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5218J
- Reported as
- Cessna 402B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 402B0905
- Airframe hours
- 1,511
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-520E, 3,250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- D. G. Hardman
- Registered owner
- Sprayrite Mfg Co
- Departed
- Louisville, KY
- Destination
- 0reg0n City, OR
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PHF · Newport News, runway 7, 8,003 × 150 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 33
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 1,017 total · 153 in this make and model · 917 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Temperature
- 122 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.