Cessna 172R N61AF

Summary

On 23 April 2005 at about 19:17 local time, a Cessna 172R registered N61AF, operated by American Flyers, was involved in an accident near Armonk, New York, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 April 2005 at 19:17

Classification

Accident

Location

Armonk, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Westchester County (HPN)

Coordinates

41.0869, -73.7256

Aircraft

Cessna 172R

Registration

N61AF

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

American Flyers

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Albany → White Plains

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC05FA075

2 people died.

The flight instructor's failure to maintain the proper altitude\clearance during the approach, which resulted in an in-flight collision with trees. Factors in this accident were low ceilings, fog, and gusty wind conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor was conducting an instrument training flight with a student pilot. At 1513:45, the airplane was on the ILS Runway 16 approach, when the pilot contacted the air traffic control tower. The airplane was subsequently cleared to land, and the controller also informed the flight instructor that the pilot of a landing Cessna Citation reported that he "broke out" at 200 feet. At 1517:25, the controller observed the airplane's radar target at 900 feet. He then issued the pilot a low altitude alert and provided the current altimeter setting. The pilot acknowledged the transmission, read back the altimeter setting, and reported that he was at an altitude of 800 feet. There were no further communications from the pilot, and the airplane's last radar target was observed at 1517:39, at an altitude of 600 feet. The airplane impacted trees and came to rest in a wooded area, about 1 mile from the approach end of runway 16. Examination of the airplane did not reveal any pre-impact malfunctions. A weather observation taken at the airport around the time of the accident, reported: wind from 190 degrees at 12 knots, gusting to 16 knots; visibility 1/2 statue mile in fog; ceiling 200 feet overcast; temperature and dew point both 12 degrees C; altimeter 29.51 in/hg. Review of the approach diagram for the ILS Runway 16 approach revealed a decision height of 639 feet msl (200 feet agl), and an approach minimum of 1,800 feet runway visual range (RVR), or 1/2-mile visibility. The flight instructor had accumulated about 815 hours of total flight experience. He had logged about 80 hours of flight time as "actual instrument conditions," which included about 7 hours of flight time, and 6 instrument landing system approaches during the preceding 90 days. The student pilot had accumulated about 32 hours of total flight experience.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.