No fatalities

14 Sep 2010: CESSNA 150M — Roberto Guerrero — Bethel, AK

Bethel, AK, United States

On 14 Sep 2010, a CESSNA 150M operated by Roberto Guerrero was involved in an aviation accident near Bethel, AK. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot's failure to maintain altitude/clearance during a night approach, resulting in a collision with terrain short of the runway. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1778583330Data APIEditorial standards

A commercial pilot practicing night landings struck ILS lights and terrain short of the runway after noticing red VASI lights, indicating a low approach. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

Accident Details

The pilot, who held a commercial certificate, was conducting solo full stop night landings to satisfy night currency requirements under Title 14, CFR Part 91. The accident occurred during the third landing of the session.

Pilot Report

According to the pilot, during the final approach of the third landing, he observed that the vertical approach slope indicator (VASI) lights displayed red over red, indicating that the airplane was below the glide slope. He stated that he should have applied full power at that point. Instead, the airplane continued to descend.

Sequence of Events

The airplane subsequently struck the elevated instrument landing system (ILS) runway centerline lights and impacted terrain short of the runway. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident.

Aircraft Damage

The fuselage of the airplane sustained substantial damage during the accident sequence.

Contributing factors

Altitude — Not attained/maintainedPilot