- Date
- December 25, 1991, 20:48 local (Dec 26, 1991, 01:48 UTC)
- Place
- Wilmington, OH
- Injuries
- 3 fatal, 2 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N236JSBeech A36
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 8, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911225057169A
- Case key
- 37048
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 failure of the pilots to maintain adequate terrain clearance. Factors which contributed to the accident were: the night conditions, reduced visibility due to fog, and the likelihood that the pilots diverted their attention to the operation of the loran equipment.
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 acft was on a local night flight to see the xmas lights of dayton from the air. A pax stated that when she thought they were going to land the acft hit trees. There was no unusual engine sound, or anything different from other flights. The accident occured about 1 mi from the airport. The left seat pilot was not instrument-rated. The right seat pilot was the acft owner, and was instrument rated. The pilot operating the controls at the time of the accident was not determined. There are no faa-approved approaches for the arpt; however, the owner had designed a loran-c approach and two r-nav approaches for personal use. The active waypoint found in the acft's loran unit coincided with the arpt. The owner was described as a person who ' was proud of, and would be eager to show other pilots flying the airplane, the procedures for use of the equipment installed.'
Aircraft
- Registration
- N236JS
- Reported as
- Beech A36
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- E-2496
- Airframe hours
- 287
- Engine
- Continental IO-550-B, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John E. Schweller
- Registered owner
- John E. Schweller
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 2, 1991 · 116 hours before
- Airport
- OH77 · Lumberton
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
- 30
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 221 total · 26 in this make and model · 136 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 130° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 27 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DAY, 26 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.