- Date
- November 28, 1989, 18:25 local (23:25 UTC)
- Place
- Block Island, RI
- Injuries
- 8 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Unknown
- Aircraft
- N127JLBritten-Norman BN-2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report February 27, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- FAA report
- 19891128049709A
- Case key
- 15931
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
The aircraft crashed for an undetermined reason, during an overwater flight on a dark (moonless) night under a cloud layer. A SIGMET was in effect warning of moderate to occasionally severe turbulence below 6000 feet and the potential of low level wind shear.
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
On dark (moonless) ngt, nonsched/domestic/psgr flt depd Block Island for westerly, RI, with 7 pax & 2 dogs. It crashed along rte in Block Island sound, 3 to 5 mi nw of Island (an area lacking vis ref on sfc). Ltr, main wreckage was fnd in 130' of wtr. Adnl wreckage & bodies of plt, 3 pax & 2 dogs were fnd. Acft was badly dmgd drg impact (l wing sepd otbd of l eng, extsv dmg to fwd part of acft), but no preimpact part failure/malfunction was fnd. Coml/inst rated plt was part time employee. He was on medication for lyme disease, but no physiological prblm was fnd that would have resulted in acdnt. At aprx 1720 EST, there was a PIREP of a bkn cld layer at 10,000'. Another plt, who was flying at abt the same time, rprtd sct clds abv 10,000', ovr 10 mi vis, wnd westerly at 15 to 25 mph & lgt to mod turbc. SIGMET (golf 4) warned of mod ocnl sev turbc blo 6000' & potential of low lvl wnd shear. Acdnt occurred along bird migratory rte. There had been no recent FAA inspn of base, ramp, cockpit (en rte check), gnd/flt trng program, crew/dispatch/trip record.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N127JL
- Reported as
- Britten-Norman BN-2
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 69
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-E4C5, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- New England Airlines
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · October 29, 1989
- Departed
- BID · Block Island, RI
- Destination
- WST · Westerly, RI
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 46
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,800 total · 24 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 220° at 17 knots, gusting 24
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BID, 5 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.