- Date
- May 17, 1985, 20:20 local (May 18, 1985, 00:20 UTC)
- Place
- Latrobe, PA
- Injuries
- 5 serious, 2 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N66892Piper PA-31-350
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850517067579A
- Case key
- 35811
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
Drg an IFR arrival, the acft was vectored for an NDB rwy 23 apch to the westmoreland county arpt. At the NDB final apch fix (8.1 mi from the rwy), the crew turned inbound & contd to the arpt. They contacted the tower & reported over the ILS outer marker (an intermediate point on the NDB final apch, 3.9 mi from the rwy). The tower issued the local landing advisories & cleared the acft to land. Moments after the coplt advised the capt that they were 15 sec from the missed apch pt, the acft collided with trees. Impact occurred 3.8 mi se of the arpt at the min dscnt alt (mda) of 1900 ft MSL. An exam of the acft records indicated a recurring & current squawk concerning the HSI slaving sys. Just before beginningthe apch, the Latrobe wind had changed from 230 deg at 4 KTS (a headwind) to a strong quartering tail wind. Drg arrival the crew were advised the wind was from 340 deg at 18 KTS. They had figured their timing to the missed apch pt by using a gnd speed of 120 KTS. Earlier that day, the same crew & acft had terminated the same NDB apch, 1 mi east of the arpt.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N66892
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31-350
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31-7405191
- Airframe hours
- 9,567
- Engine
- Lycoming TIO-540-J2BD, 350 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Cumberland Airlines, doing business as Cumberland Airlines
- Registered owner
- Cumberland Airlines
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · May 4, 1985 · 45 hours before
- Departed
- PIT · Pittsburgh, PA
- Destination
- LBE
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- LBE · Westmoreland County, runway 23, 5,501 × 100 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
- 32
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,350 total · 280 in this make and model · 3,150 as pilot in command · 190 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 340° at 18 knots
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 800 ft broken
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LBE, 32 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.
Other investigations on N66892 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.