Cessna 340A N36JM

Summary

On 7 November 1996 at about 14:00 local time, a Cessna 340A registered N36JM was involved in an accident near Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States. 3 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 November 1996 at 14:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States

Nearest airport

North Central (SFZ)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 340A

Registration

N36JM

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Nantucket → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC97LA014

2 people were seriously injured.

failure of the pilot to comply with the published instrument approach procedure, by continuing the ILS approach below the decision height, rather than performing a missed approach; and his failure to attain a proper touchdown point for the continued landing. Factors relating to the accident were: weather below approach minimums, wet runway, and hydroplaning conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting the localizer approach to runway 15 when the aircraft overran the runway and struck an obstacle. According to the pilot, a loss of power occurred in both engines as he attempted to do a missed approach, and the airspeed subsequently decreased from 105 to 80 knots. The pilot reported that he pushed the nose over to avoid a stall, broke out of the clouds over the mid-point of the runway, landed long and continued off the end of the runway into terrrain and a tower structure. A witness reported the 'aircraft broke out of the clouds just above the trees north of runway 5 and west of runway 15. Reportedly, the aircraft was being banked from a right to left to get aligned with runway 5, flaps appeared to be up, and the gear was down. The witness said the engines sounded to be at idle and at high rpm, and the aircraft appeared to be 50 feet above the ground at midfield when it went out of sight behind hangar.' The weather observed at the time of the accident was in part: ceiling 100 feet overcast, visibility 0.5 mile with fog and rain. The published landing minimums for the approach was ceiling 400 feet and visibility 0.75 mile. Recorded radar data of the flight indicated a descent below the minimum descent altitude at a constant airspeed. Both engines started immediately and ran during a postaccident check of the aircraft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.