- Date
- May 9, 2014, 12:32 local (16:32 UTC)
- Place
- Roxbury, NY
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N164EWNorth American AT6 - C
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Landing area overshoot
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 15, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- FAA report
- 20140509010939A
- Case key
- 89205
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 pilot's failure to maintain adequate obstacle clearance, which resulted in the inflight collision with a power line.
Findings · 6
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
According to pilot he checked the weather at his destination airport and it called for VFR weather. While enroute to his destination he stated that the weather was deteriorating and the ceilings were getting low. As a precaution he started to look for a place to land since the weather was closing in and his fuel was also getting low. The pilot located a private grass strip and made an attempt to land. As the airplane touched down on the field the pilot applied the brakes, but he had little brake response due to the wet grass. When the pilot relized that he would be unable to stop the airplane prior to the end of the runway, he initiated a go-around and struck a power line follow by trees before losing control and colliding with the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
According to pilot he checked the weather at his destination airport and it called for VFR weather. While enroute to his destination he stated that the weather was deteriorating and the ceilings were getting low. As a precaution he started to look for a place to land since the weather was closing in and his fuel was also getting low. The pilot located a private grass strip and made an attempt to land. As the airplane touched down on the field the pilot applied the brakes, but he had little brake response due to the wet grass. When the pilot realized that he would be unable to stop the airplane prior to the end of the runway, he initiated a go-around and struck a power line followed by trees before losing control and colliding with the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N164EW
- Reported as
- North American AT6 - C (C)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4133808
- Built
- 1943
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R1340 AN1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- LNN · Willoughby, OH
- Destination
- 1NK0 · Roxbury, NY
- Airport
- 1NK0 · Roxbury Runway Airport, runway 21, 1,735 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 45
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 6,720 total · 6,720 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 800 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.15 inHg
- Observed at
- 1NK0
Docket · 9
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 10, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 31.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.