- Date
- April 3, 2015, 20:15 local (Apr 4, 2015, 01:15 UTC)
- Place
- Wetumpka, AL
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N9172QBeech V35B
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report August 11, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20150404004689A
- Case key
- 90988
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 use of an incorrect radio frequency when attempting to turn on the runway lights, resulting is an attempt to land the airplane while aligned with airport hangar lights.
Findings · 4
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
The pilot reported that he was landing his airplane at night and mistook the hangar lights for runway lights. The airplane struck trees on the final approach, then the ground before coming to rest, inverted. The pilot said that, in retrospect, he was on the incorrect radio frequency when he attempted to turn on the pilot-activated runway lights. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the wreckage and reported that the airplane sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical problems with the airplane at the time of the accident. The runway lights operated normally after the accident.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was landing his airplane at night and mistook the hangar lights for runway lights. The airplane struck trees on the final approach, then the ground before coming to rest, inverted. The pilot said that, in retrospect, he was on the incorrect radio frequency when he attempted to turn on the pilot-activated runway lights. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the wreckage and reported that the airplane sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical problems with the airplane at the time of the accident. The runway lights operated normally after the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9172Q
- Reported as
- Beech V35B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- D-9250
- Built
- 1970
- Airframe hours
- 6,137
- Engine
- Continental IO-520 Series, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Power Daniel N
- Registered owner
- Power Daniel N
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 1, 2014
- Departed
- GLS · Galveston, TX
- Destination
- 08A · Wetumpka, AL
- Airport
- 08A · Wetumpka Muni, runway 27, 3,011 × 80 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
- 77
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 6, 2015
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 3,326 total · 1,909 in this make and model · 10 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 200° at 9 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MGM, 9 nm away
Docket · 14
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 27, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 10.3 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.