- Date
- September 12, 1988, 03:30 local (07:30 UTC)
- Place
- Lawrence, MA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N84WDDillinger Long E-Z
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed · report June 10, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880912038299A
- Case key
- 35985
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 depd provincetown on a rtrn flt to his home arpt at aprx 0230 EDT & arrived at his destn about 1 hr later. He rprtd he was unable to activate the plt-ctld rwy lights. He checked the lighted wind sock & decided the night was bright & clear enough to land without activating the rwy lights. The plt made a smooth touchdown, but said he didn't realize he had landed too long & too 'hot' until 'it was too late.' Before he could stop the acft, it went of the dep end, then nosed over as it went down an embankment. The plt crawled fm the acft; however, he & the acft were not found until a helicopter plt saw them the next morning, nearly 8 hrs later. An ATC specialist said he changed the lighting sys from manual to auto ctl at 0200 EDT & that the auto sys checked normal. Another ATC specialist said the lights were on auto ctl when he arrived the next morning & that they operd normally.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N84WD
- Reported as
- Dillinger Long E-Z
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 848
- Airframe hours
- 291
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 118 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William O. Dillinger, Jr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 19, 1988 · 70 hours before
- Departed
- PVC · Provincetown, MA
- Destination
- LWM
- 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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 956 total · 291 in this make and model · 894 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.