- Date
- November 15, 1989, 23:35 local (Nov 16, 1989, 04:35 UTC)
- Place
- New Castle, NY
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N55399Piper PA-28R-200
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report September 9, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19891115045709A
- Case key
- 36515
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 failed to maintain proper altitude and alignment with the ILS during the ILS approach and failed to perform the missed approach.
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 airplane was on an ILS approach to runway 16. The radar controller saw the airplane go off the localizer once to the left and once to the right. The controller warned the pilot about the deviations and alerted him about being 300 feet too low. Radar last showed the airplane at 700 feet MSL and to the right of the localizer course. Ground elevation at the accident site was 600 feet MSL and the airplane struck a 100 foot high tree. The weather at the time was partial obscuration with 1/4 mile visibility. The pilot had a total of 40 simulated instrument and 32 night flight hours.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N55399
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-7335228
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-C1C, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Miller, Walter
- Departed
- 4G6 · Hornel, NY
- Destination
- HPN · White Plains, NY
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- HPX · West Chester County, runway 16, 6,548 × 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
- 23
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 198 total · 2 in this make and model · 174 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HPN, 48 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.