Piper AEROSTAR 600 N77BR

Summary

On 23 March 1989 at about 03:44 local time, a Piper AEROSTAR 600 registered N77BR, operated by Top Flight Air Service, was involved in an accident near Jacksonville, Florida, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 March 1989 at 03:44

Classification

Accident

Location

Jacksonville, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Jacksonville Intl (JAX)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Piper AEROSTAR 600

Registration

N77BR

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Top Flight Air Service

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Atlanta → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

MIA89FA113

1 person died.

IMPROPER USE OF THE IFR PROCEDURE BY THE PILOT, HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN A PROPER GLIDE PATH, AND HIS FAILURE TO IDENTIFY THE DECISION HEIGHT.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

DRG ARRIVAL, THE PLT WAS CLRD FOR AN ILS RWY 7 APCH. ALSO, HE WAS ADZD OF A DC-9 THAT WAS 4 MI AHEAD & WAS TOLD TO USE CAUTION FOR WAKE TURBULENCE. AS THE ACFT WAS ON FINAL APCH, IT DESCENDED BELOW THE ILS GLIDE SLOPE & SUBSEQUENTLY HIT TREES & CRASHED ABOUT 1.8 MI SHORT OF THE RWY. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ACFT OR ENGS WAS FOUND THAT WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN AN ACDNT. ALSO, THERE WERE NO REPORTED PROBLEMS WITH THE ILS SYSTEM & IT TESTED NORMAL AFTER THE ACDNT. THE PLT HELD A COMMERCIAL PLT CERTIFICATE WHICH WAS GOOD FOR SINGLE ENGINE LAND ACFT; HIS MULTI-ENGINE PRIVILEGES WERE AUTHORIZED AS A PRIVATE PLT, ONLY. AN NTSB PERFORMANCE STUDY SHOWED THE ACFT WAS 2 MIN & 57 SEC BEHIND THE DC-9. RADAR DATA INDCD THE ACFT DID NOT EXCEED A BANK ANGLE OF 32 DEG & NO EXCESSIVE G-VALUES WERE EVIDENT DRG THE APCH.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.