About 2055LT, Downeast Airlines flight 46 crashed into a heavily wooded area about 1,2 mile south-southwest of the Knox County Regional Airport in Rockland, Maine. The crash occurred during a non-precision instrument approach to runway 03 in instrument meteorological conditions. Of the 16 passengers and 2 crew members aboard, only one passenger survived the accident. The aircraft was destroyed.
Probable cause (official findings): The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the flightcrew to arrest the aircraft's descent at the minimum descent altitude for the non-precision approach, without the runway environment in sight, for unknown reasons. Although the Safety Board was unable to determine conclusively the reason(s) for the flightcrew's deviation from standard instrument approach procedures, it is believed that inordinate management pressures, the first officer's marginal instrument proficiency, the captain's inadequate supervision of the flight, inadequate crew training and procedures, and the captaints chronic fatigue were all factors in the accident.