Cessna 170A N1460D

Summary

On 11 February 1999 at about 19:15 local time, a Cessna 170A registered N1460D was involved in an accident near Leominster, Massachusetts, 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

11 February 1999 at 19:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Leominster, Massachusetts, United States

Nearest airport

Fitchburg Muni (FIT)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Cessna 170A

Registration

N1460D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fitchburg → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC99FA060

1 person died.

The pilot's failure to maintain the proper altitude during the approach.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was on approach to the runway. A witness observed the airplane below the tree tops. He further stated 'the engine started revving as if [the pilot] had gunned it.... It looked like he was trying to get over [the trees] but at the same time or maybe two seconds later his left wing hit one of the tree's. The plane was pulled to the left bouncing around in the trees, one tree kind of kicked the tail of the plane up sending it into a nose dive straight down....' The airplane struck the tops of about 75 foot tall trees, about 1/2 mile from the runway, and then came to rest in a residential backyard. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any pre-impact malfunctions of the airframe or engine. The 80 year old pilot had logged about 1,660 hours of total flight experience, with 28.5 and 11.5 hours of flight experience in 1997 and 1998, respectively. The airplane's tachometer had accumulated 5.4 hours since it's last annual inspection, which was performed about 5 months prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.