- Date
- March 27, 1983, 11:54 local (16:54 UTC)
- Place
- Roanoke, VA
- Injuries
- 5 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5885VPiper PA-34-200T
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830327009549A
- Case key
- 5901
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 acft was on a x-country from buffalo, NY to new port richey, FL. The plt made an en route stop at painsville, OH, then proceeded toward greensboro, NC. While en route, he elected to land at Roanoke, VA because his fuel would be low if he continued to greensboro. At Roanoke, the plt began the lda approach to rwy 05. The weather was reported, in part, as: 200 ft broken, 400 ft overcast, visibility 2 mi with light rain & fog. The minimums for the precision approach was 400 ft ceiling & 1 mi visibility. At 1152:37, the plt had begun a missed approach. Shortly after that, he was advised he was flying toward high terrain & was provided vectors. A short time later, the radar controller noted that the acft descended from 2800 to 1800 ft, then radar contact was lost. A witness saw the acft maneuvering at 75 to 100 ft AGL, just before it impacted a tree & a tv transmission line. An exam of the wreckage revealed no evidence of a preimpact malfunction or failure. An estimation of fuel computation indicated only about 23 gal would be remaining.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5885V
- Reported as
- Piper PA-34-200T
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7770267
- Airframe hours
- 1,555
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-360-E, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Levesque Air Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · November 1, 1982 · 119 hours before
- Departed
- Painesville, OH
- Destination
- ROA · Roanoke, VA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- ROA · Roanoke Muni., runway 5, 5,904 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 52
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,036 total · 102 in this make and model · 52 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 400 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 37 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ROA
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.