- Date
- May 20, 1990, 22:22 local (May 21, 1990, 02:22 UTC)
- Place
- Willoughby Hill, OH
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N4859WRockwell 114
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report May 3, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900520016599A
- Case key
- 14532
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Failure of the pilot to follow the IFR procedure and to identify the decision height (and/or make a timely missed approach). The adverse weather was a related factor.
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
Drg arrival, the plt made 2 VOR apchs to lost nation arpt, then elected to divert for an ILS rwy 23 apch at the nearby cuyahoga county arpt. While being vectored for the ILS, he was adzd the latest arpt wx was (in part): 100 ft obscured, vis 1/8 mi with fog. At 2218 EDT, the plt was adzd he was 5 mi from krook (outer marker/final apch fix) & was clrd for the apch. Apch minima were ceiling 200 ft, vis 1/2 mi. Subsequently, the acft deviated about 1100 ft rgt of the ILS localizer course line and hit a power line pole about 2500 ft short of the rwy. Impact occurred about 12 AGL as the acft was in a rgt turn, hdg 290 deg. The acft then hit a tree, crashed at the same elev as the arpt, slid into the breezway of a house/garage & burned. No preimpact part failure or malfunction of the acft was fnd. After the acdnt, the next observation showed the wx had deteriorated to: indefinite, zero ceiling, sky obscured, vis 1/8 mi with fog, wind from 360 deg at 8 KTS.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4859W
- Reported as
- Rockwell 114
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 14189
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-T4B5D, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Finder'S Diversified, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- AVL · Ashville, NC
- Destination
- LNN · Willoughby, OH
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- CGF · Cuyahoga County, runway 23, 5,101 × 100 ft
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
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 500 total · 100 in this make and model · 400 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 360° at 8 knots
- Temperature
- 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CGF, 1 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.