Foster John GLASAIR III N540WF

Summary

On 13 January 2010 at about 21:56 local time, a Foster John GLASAIR III registered N540WF, operated by Foster John W, was involved in an accident near Oxford, Connecticut, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 January 2010 at 21:56

Classification

Accident

Location

Oxford, Connecticut, United States

Nearest airport

Waterbury-Oxford Arpt (OXC)

Coordinates

41.4786, -73.1353

Aircraft

Foster John GLASAIR III

Registration

N540WF

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Foster John W

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gaithersburg → Oxford

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

ERA10LA113

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain a proper approach path during visual conditions at dusk, which resulted in an in-flight collision with power lines.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a visual approach, at dusk, to a runway with an operating precision approach path indicator (PAPI), the pilot flew well below the approach path and collided with power lines on the final approach leg of the traffic pattern. The pilot had accumulated a total of 7.2 hours of night flight experience and his most recent night flight was more than 4 years prior to the accident. The accident occurred 11 minutes after sunset and 20 minutes before the end of civil twilight. The darker lighting conditions would have required the pilot to rely more on approach aids such as the PAPI lights. Examination of the wreckage and data recovered from an engine instrument system did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions of the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.