- Date
- March 20, 1987, 23:00 local (Mar 21, 1987, 04:00 UTC)
- Place
- Lawrence, MA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N200FDPiper PA-31T
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report August 31, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19870320007269A
- Case key
- 30623
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 crew of the PA-31T cheyenne had made one missed approach and the co-pilot was calling out the altitudes to the pilot. The pilot's reply to the co-pilot was that he was just going to descend to 400 ft. the approach minimums were published for an mda of 660 ft plus 80 ft when the control zone is not in effect. The aircraft flew into rising terrain. The co-pilot suffered minor injuries, the acft was destroyed due to impact and fire.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N200FD
- Reported as
- Piper PA-31T
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31-7520040
- Airframe hours
- 3,707
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-28, 620 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Birk Leasing
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · March 16, 1987 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- PWM · Portland, ME
- Destination
- LWM · Lawrence, MA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- LWM · Lawrence, runway 23, 4,997 × 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
- 49
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 9,530 total · 789 in this make and model · 9,400 as pilot in command · 167 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 300° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LWM, 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.