NYC94FA145

The pilot diverted from his destination airport to an alternate, because of weather. At the alternate airport, he made an ILS runway 26 approach, but due to fog, he was unable to land. He made a missed approach & elected to conduct another approach to the same airport. He was unable to land again. During a 2nd missed approach, the airplane impacted a road on the airport about 1400' south of the runway & was destroyed. Impact occurred on a heading of 273 degrees; the main wreckage came to rest about 775' from the initial impact point. The gear, flaps, & spoilers were in the retracted position (the plane was modified with spoilers). A witness (commercial pilot) heard the airplane & said that the engine was at full power & sounded normal. A weather observation taken after the accident reported visibility as 1/4 mile with fog. The pilot had worked from 0800 to 1730 during the day before reporting for the flight about 2200. About 2000 that same evening, he had a telephone converstation with a family member. During the conversation, he did not mention any plan to sleep, although one item of discussion was the plt's flight schedule. The accident occurred at 0533 the next morning. The pilot was on his 2nd flight & had flown about 6 hours before the accident. Family members stated that he often worked all day before flying at night.

History of flight

On Wednesday, August 3, 1994, at 0533 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 210N, N4875U, operated by Atlantic Aero, Inc., and piloted by Philip T. Sarver, was destroyed by impact, after executing a missed approach at the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport, Martinsburg, West Virginia. The pilot was fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and an IFR flight plan was filed. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 135.

The cargo flight was scheduled to fly from Greensboro (GSO), North Carolina, to Tullahoma (THA), Tennessee, where the cargo was to be loaded and flown to Hagerstown (HGR), Maryland. After the cargo was unloaded, N4875U was scheduled to return to GSO.

The pilot of N4875U contacted the Raleigh Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) at 2209 and said:

...centurion four eight seven five uniform departing...greensboro in about thirty minutes ...going to tullahoma...and...i'll be going to hagerstown maryland and i'd like get a weather briefing and file three ifr's with you.

AFSS provided the weather for the flight to Tullahoma, and then advised the pilot that there was no terminal forecast for Hagerstown. The nearest terminal was for Martinsburg (MRB), West Virginia, which forecasted: 10,000 scattered, variable broken, visibility 4 miles, with fog and haze.

The pilot filed an IFR flight plan, estimating time en route to THA of 2 hours, and a fuel load of 5 hours. On his flight log, the pilot noted that the airplane had 89 gallons of fuel at departure.

N4875U completed the flight from GSO to THA, where it was loaded with cargo. Refueling records and an interview with the refueler confirmed that the airplane was serviced with 30 gallons of 100 octane aviation fuel. N4875U departed THA at 0135, destined for Hagerstown.

At 0356, while cruising at 9,000 feet, the pilot of N4875U requested the latest weather report for the Hagerstown area, from Washington Air Route Traffic Control (ARTC). The controller provided the following weather for HGR: sky partially obscured, 300 overcast, 1/2 mile visibility.

The pilot contacted ARTC at 0406 and stated that the weather at Hagerstown was deteriorating, and that he might have to divert to Martinsburg.

At 0417, ARTC advised the pilot that the Hagerstown weather was: partially obscured, 100 foot overcast with a visibility of 1/2 mile.

The pilot of N4875U stated at 0426:

...i've got good ground contact up here...in fact i can...just about pick it out...must be some fog or something drifting through there

At 0432, he said:

...i'm over the airport now and i have the runway...in sight...it looks like it's just a patch of fog...it's close enough to do a contact approach.

He circled the airport attempting to perform a contact approach or ILS, but he was unable to complete landing due to restricted visibility.

At 0457, ARTC asked the pilot of N4875U about his fuel status. The pilot responded:

...i've got two and half hours of fuel up here so i'm in good shape on the fuel...i don't know this stuff doesn't seem to be moving it's just setting right there

At 0502, the pilot requested clearance to Martinsburg. ARTC approved the change of destination and cleared N4875U to "turn left heading one niner zero proceed direct martinsburg...maintain four thousand"

The pilot contacted Dulles Approach Control and was vectored for an ILS approach to runway 26 at Martinsburg. He was unable to land on the first attempt, and he executed a missed approach. He requested a second approach and was again vectored for the ILS. He was unable to land on this second approach, and he conducted another missed approach.

The Flight Service Station Specialist on duty at the airport stated in his report:

At [0528 N4875U] called inbound ILS runway 26; [he] was given airport advisory; at [0531], I heard aircraft coming what sounded like near overhead towards rear of building, pilot called and said this isn't working. I'll have to try something else. Aircraft sounded like engine was running slow...heard a "whomp" sound and silence. I called several times - no answer.

A witness, a commercially rated pilot, stated that he heard the airplane fly over his home. It sounded to him as if the pilot was on a missed approach. He said the engine was at "full power, high RPM...and it sounded good." The witness said the weather was foggy, "near zero, zero, less than 300 feet visibility."

The pilot did not contact Dulles Approach Control, nor did he respond to several radio calls. The wreckage of the airplane was located on the runway 35 by airport and Air National Guard personnel.

The accident occurred during the hours of darkness, at latitude 39 degrees, 24 minutes North; longitude 77 degrees, 59 minutes West.

Aerodrome and ground facilities

The published missed approach procedure for the ILS to runway 26 called for a "climb to 1000' (feet), then a climbing left turn to 3000' direct to the MRB (Martinsburg) VOR and hold." The airport elevation was 557'; therefore, an airplane would be 443' above ground level upon reaching 1000' indicated altitude, where a turn could be commenced.

The Federal Aviation Administration conducted a flight inspection of the runway 26 ILS system on August 4, 1994. The results of this flight inspection were "satisfactory."

Personnel information

The pilot held an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate, with airplane single and multi-engine land and instrument ratings. In addition, he held a Flight Instructor Certificate with single engine and instrument airplane ratings.

Mr. Sarver was issued a First Class Airmen Medical Certificate on March 1, 1994, with limitations that he wear corrective lenses while exercising the privileges of this certificate.

His pilot's flight time log book was not recovered during the investigation. Based upon information received from his family, company and FAA records, it was estimated that he had a total flight time of about 4800 hours, with 38 hours in the last 90 days. In the last 30 days, he had flown this make and model airplane 14 hours.

Mr. Sarver was employed as a part-time pilot for the Atlantic Aero Company. He was employed full-time in a family business, which involved working during the hours from 0800 to 1730.

Meteorological information

The recorded surface weather observations, at the Martinsburg Flight Service Station (FSS), for the time period prior to and after the accident, were as follows:

0150: Estimated 8000 overcast, visibility 7 miles

0247: Partial obscuration, estimated 8000 overcast, visibility 2 1/2 miles, with fog

0352: Partial obscuration, estimated 8000 overcast, visibility 2 miles, with fog

0447: Partial obscuration, 8000 thin overcast, visibility 1/2, with fog

This last observation was provided to the pilot by Dulles Approach Control, as he was being vectored to Martinsburg. At 0532, the FSS Specialist recorded the following observation, indicating in his log, "Aircraft mishap:"

Partial obscuration, estimated 8000 overcast, visibility 1/2 mile, with fog

The next observation, at 0550, reported:

Indefinite, 400 obscured, visibility 1/4 mile, with fog

Wreckage

The wreckage was examined at the accident site on August 3, 1994. There was an impact mark with 3 slashes, 24 inches apart, on an airport road about 1400 feet south of run