Accident Overview
An accident occurred during a night instrument landing system (ILS) approach to Runway 27 in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). The aircraft collided with a mountain located 12 nautical miles east-southeast of the airport while turning inbound to intercept the localizer course.
Investigation Findings
Investigation revealed that one VOR receiver was tuned to the destination ILS frequency, while the second VOR receiver was set to the frequency of an en route VOR station located 51 nautical miles west of the destination airport. The distance measuring equipment (DME), a separate transceiver, was set to the destination DME transmitter. The frequencies of the en route VOR and the destination VOR were 117.1 MHz and 117.7 MHz, respectively.
The outbound course for the ILS approach procedure was 088 degrees. The accident site was located on the 088 radial of the en route VOR.
Cockpit Configuration
At the time of the accident, the pilot in command (PIC) was occupying the right front seat. An experienced pilot who was not current in this aircraft type was occupying the left front seat. The second VOR receiver control head was located in the lower right portion of the instrument panel, a position where the selected frequency was difficult to read.