- Date
- January 16, 1990, 17:58 local (22:58 UTC)
- Place
- Burlington, VT
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5115JCessna 310R
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report October 2, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900116001259A
- Case key
- 36522
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
For an unknown reason, the aircraft entered a descent and crashed in a lake.
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 Cessna 310 disappeared from radar as it ws being vectored to an ILS approach at night in IMC conditions. Subseuqently it crashed in lake champlain. The last recorded altitude was 2100 ft, except the controller saw it momentarily at 1200 feet prior to its disappearance. Communications were normal. A portion of the fuselage was recovered several months after the accident; however, an exam of this portion of the wreckage did not reveal why the acdnt had occurred.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5115J
- Reported as
- Cessna 310R
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 310R0235
- Engine
- Continental IO-520, 285 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Malcolm French
- Registered owner
- Neil F. O'Donohue
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 1, 1989 · 100 hours before
- Departed
- DKK · Dunkirk, NY
- Destination
- BTV · Burlington, VT
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- BTV · Burlington, runway 15, 7,807 × 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
- 47
- Certificate
- Private
- 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
- 2,000 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 290° at 4 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 800 ft
- Temperature
- 34 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BTV, 8 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.