National Transportation Safety Board Washington, DC 20594 Brief of Accident Adopted 11/06/2013 ERA13FA064 File No.

31764 11/19/2012 Piper/PA-28-180 Lycoming / O-360 SER Substantial 1 None Personal Part 91: General Aviation Canton ,CT Aircraft Reg No. N8826J Crew Pass Fatal 1 1

Printed on : 01/16/2014 07:56:57 PM

Time (Local): 18:24 EST Serious 0 0 Minor/None 0 0

Make/Model: Engine Make/Model: Aircraft Damage: Number of Engines: Operating Certificate(s): Type of Flight Operation: Reg. Flight Conducted Under:

Last Depart. Point: Pottstown, PA Destination: Simsbury, CT Airport Proximity: Off Airport/Airstrip

Condition of Light: Weather Info Src: Basic Weather: Lowest Ceiling: Visibility: Wind Dir/Speed: Temperature (C): Precip/Obscuration:

Night Weather Observation Facility Visual Conditions None 10.00 SM 010 / 003 kts 2
No Obscuration; No Precipitation

Pilot-in-Command Certificate(s)/Rating(s)
Private; Single-engine Land

Age: 73

Flight Time (Hours) Total All Aircraft: 962 Last 90 Days: 4 Total Make/Model: 913 Total Instrument Time: 2

Instrument Ratings None

*** Note: NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report. *** The pilot was flying to the destination airport at night on the second day of a long cross-country trip. Radar data showed that when the airplane was about 12 miles from the destination airport, it began to descend. The airplane eventually descended into trees and terrain about 6 miles from the destination airport, at an elevation nearly 400 feet below the airport's traffic pattern altitude, and 1,400 feet below the maximum elevation figure published for that area. A state police helicopter dispatched to search for the airplane following the accident reported that the terrain surrounding the accident site was "surprisingly" dark, and that some of the only nearby ground lighting came from a parking lot about 1 mile beyond the accident location and along the airplanes course . According to the aeronautical information manual, lights along a straight path can easily be mistaken for runway lights at night. The pilots logbook indicated that he had flown 1 hour at night in the accident airplane in the preceding year. Given the pilot's lack of recent night flying experience, it is possible that he initiated the early descent because he had mistaken the nearby parking lot lights for those of the destination airport.

Brief of Accident (Continued) ERA13FA064 File No. 31764 11/19/2012 Canton ,CT Aircraft Reg No. N8826J Time (Local): 18:24 EST

Postaccident examination of the airplane showed no evidence of preaccident failure or malfunction that would have precluded normal operation. Updated at Nov 6 2013 9:12AM

Brief of Accident (Continued) ERA13FA064 File No. 31764 OCCURRENCES Approach - Altitude deviation Approach - Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT) 11/19/2012 Canton ,CT Aircraft Reg No. N8826J Time (Local): 18:24 EST

FINDINGS Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Light condition-Dark-Contributed to outcome - F Personnel issues-Experience/knowledge-Experience/qualifications-Recent experience-Pilot - F Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Pilot - C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Not attained/maintained - C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Mountainous/hilly terrain-Contributed to outcome Findings Legend: (C) = Cause, (F) = Factor __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: The pilots failure to maintain clearance from terrain while performing a night visual approach to an airport. Contributing to the accident were the dark night and the pilot's lack of recent experience flying at night.