- Date
- April 19, 1985, 22:14 local (Apr 20, 1985, 03:14 UTC)
- Place
- St James, MI
- Injuries
- 7 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N1334GCessna 310R
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850419015819A
- Case key
- 13224
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
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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
During a night arrival, the plt reported that he had the arpt in sight & canceled his IFR flt plan. A witness saw the lights of the acft as it circled the destination arpt. He reported the acft had turned left to a southerly heading, & shortly thereafter, he saw a flash of light. The witness went to the arpt & observed that the arpt lighting was on. Also, he noted that there was no ground fog & he could see stars overhead. A search was initiated, but the acft was not found until 0950 EST the next morning. The acft had collided with trees about 3000 ft southwest of the west end of rwy 9/27, then crashed & burned. Initial impact was with a 70 ft tree at an elevation of about 690 ft MSL while the acft was on a southerly heading. The arpt elevation was 670 ft MSL. No preimpact part failure or malfunction was found. Aprx 32 mi east at pellston, MI, the 2150 EST wx was, in part: 5000 ft scattered, 10,000 ft broken, visibility 4 mi.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1334G
- Reported as
- Cessna 310R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 310R0018
- Airframe hours
- 2,800
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-M, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- S. M. Zonneblet
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · February 21, 1985 · 46 hours before
- Departed
- C19 · Holland, MI
- Destination
- SJX
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- SJX · Beaver Island
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 33
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 700 total · 250 in this make and model · 700 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PLN, 32 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.