Beechcraft F33A N1813W

Summary

On 12 November 2005 at about 00:30 local time, a Beechcraft F33A registered N1813W, operated by Shirley A. Onacilla, was involved in an accident near Montgomery, New York, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 November 2005 at 00:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Montgomery, New York, United States

Coordinates

41.5100, -74.2647

Aircraft

Beechcraft F33A

Registration

N1813W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Shirley A. Onacilla

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Atlantic City → Montgomery

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

NYC06CA031

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's misjudgment of the landing flare, which resulted in a hard landing short of the runway. Factors included the night lighting conditions, the time-out and reestablishment of the high intensity runway lighting, and the pilot's failure to go around.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was making a night visual approach to an airport when, on short final, the pilot-activated runway lights timed out. The pilot re-activated the lights, which came back on at a high intensity that "adversely affected [her] night vision and depth perception." During the time the lights were out, the airplane descended below the glide path, and by the time she realized it, the pilot felt that she could not have successfully executed a go-around because "the aircraft would have most likely lost lift and stalled." According to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, the airplane then landed "short and hard." No airplane mechanical anomalies were noted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.