- Date
- March 1, 1989, 12:56 local (17:56 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Placid, NY
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N1729QBeech 95-A55
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890301004399A
- Case key
- 36276
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 departure into known adverse weather conditions and his continued VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing factor(s) was: the adverse weather conditions.
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
Pilot departed saranac lake in intermittent snow squalls and blizzard conditions. About 10 minutes later the pilot contacted Lake Placid UNICOM and said he would be landing in about 5 minutes. 2 minutes later the UNICOM operator heard the aircraft fly overhead at a low altitude, and the aircraft appeared to be flying downwind for rwy 32. The wreckage was found at the base of a hill 3/4 mi south of the airport, just off the approach end of rwy 32. The airport was obscured in snow with visibility around 1/3 to 1/2 mi, but the north end of the field was clear.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1729Q
- Reported as
- Beech 95-A55
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- TC 304
- Airframe hours
- 2,383
- Engine
- Teledyne Cont IO-470 L, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Paul Edward Field
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 28, 1988 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- SLK · Saranac Lake, NY
- Airport
- LKP · Lake Placid, runway 32, 4,200 × 50 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
- 61
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,840 total · 356 in this make and model · 1,679 as pilot in command · 27 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 15 knots, gusting 20
- Lowest ceiling
- 300 ft
- Temperature
- 21 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SLK, 10 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.