Smith AEROSTAR 601 N71MA

Summary

On 19 June 1982 at about 01:30 local time, a Smith AEROSTAR 601 registered N71MA, operated by Tech Industries, Inc., was involved in an accident near Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

19 June 1982 at 01:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, United States

Nearest airport

Martha's Vineyard (MVY)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Smith AEROSTAR 601

Registration

N71MA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Tech Industries, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lancaster → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

NYC82FNA20

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

DURING AN ILS WITH THE AUTOPILOT COUPLER ON, A HIGH SINK RATE DEVELOPED TOWARD THE END OF THE APPROACH. THE PILOT UNCOUPLED THE AUTOPILOT AND BEGAN A MISSED APPROACH, BUT THE AIRCRAFT HIT THE TOP OF A TREE. HE DIVERTED AND LANDED AT PROVIDENCE, RI WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. AFTER LANDING, SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE OF THE RIGHT FLAP AND RIGHT PROPELLER WAS FOUND. A BENCH CHECK OF THE BENDIX FCS-810 AUTOPILOT REVEALED THAT THE TRANSISTORS IN THE GLIDE SLOPE WASH-OUT CIRCUIT WERE FAULTY. THEY WERE INTERMITTENTLY APPLYING A POSITIVE VOLTAGE THAT RESULTED IN A FALSE PITCH GYRO SIGNAL AND A DOWNWARD HARDOVER.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.