VOR/DME Approach Collision with Guy Wire at Marco Island Airport (N91MJ)

Approach and Descent Details The flight was cleared for a VOR/DME approach to runway 17 at Marco Island Airport. The cockpit voice recorder captured the pilot and co-pilot discussing the approach, including the minimum descent altitude (MDA) in both mean sea level and absolute altitude for a straight-in approach to runway 17. The flight crew announced that they were landing on runway 35. The crew did not discuss the missed approach procedure or circling minimums. The co-pilot announced that the aircraft was 5 miles from the airport and would descend to the MDA to visually acquire the airport. During the descent, approximately 8.5 feet of the left wing was severed by a guy wire located about 587 feet above ground level, 3.36 nautical miles from the threshold of runway 17. The tower associated with the guy wire was listed on the approach chart provided to the flight crew. The MDA for the segment of the approach where the tower is located was no lower than 974 feet above ground level. ## Aircraft Response and Impact After the wing was severed, the aircraft rolled left wing low, recovered to wings level, then rolled to the left, pitched nose down, and impacted the ground. Witnesses observed a fireball following the impact. ## Instrument and Approach Verification The altimeters, air data computer, and pilot's airspeed indicator were last calibrated about 8 months before the accident. The co-pilot's altimeter was found set 0.01 high from the last known altimeter setting provided to the flight crew. The cockpit voice recorder did not record any conversation regarding failure or malfunction of either the pilot's or co-pilot's horizontal situation indicator, distance measuring equipment, or altimeters. There were no alarms from the VOR/DME monitoring equipment on the day of the accident. Another aircraft executed the same approach approximately 30 minutes before the accident and reported no discrepancies with the approach.