- Date
- March 16, 1985, 20:14 local (Mar 17, 1985, 01:14 UTC)
- Place
- Gainesville, FL
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N545SFAronson Falco F8L
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850316010839A
- Case key
- 31235
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
The plt received a wx briefing & filed an IFR clnc, then departed VFR. Except for a hdwnd, the 1st part of the flt was normal. In the vcnty of macon, GA, the plt requested & received an IFR clnc. Later, he elected to divert to the gaines- ville rgnl arpt & was vectored for an ILS 28 apch. While diverting, he indicated some confusion concerning the apch plates; at 1st, he started using the Gainesville, ga plate, then he switched to the correct plate (Gainesville, FL). He had difficulty maintaining heading on the ILS & made a missed apch 2 mi east of the arpt. He admitted having problems with the apch, declared a low fuel state & received vectors for another ILS. Again, he had difficulty maintaining heading control. On the 2nd apch, the acft was observed to fly over the field & the plt was cleared to land on any rwy. However, the acft crashed on the apch end of rwy 6. There was evidence of little movement after impact & very little chordwise scraping of the prop. No fuel was found in the fuel tanks or fuel injector lines.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N545SF
- Reported as
- Aronson Falco F8L
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 545
- Airframe hours
- 499
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-320-B1A, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- David A. Aronson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- BWG · Bowling Green, KY
- Destination
- GNV · Gainesville, FL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- GNV · Alachua County Regional, runway 28, 6,503 × 150 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
- 50
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 380 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 40° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 300 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GNV, 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.