What happened
During a night-time ILS approach to Alpena-County-Phelps-Collins Airport, a twin engine airplane crashed approximately 1.6 miles before reaching runway 36. The flight was operating under instrument flight rules when the pilot encountered weather conditions that were at the edge of acceptable limits. During the short final phase of the approach, the aircraft struck the ground, leading to the total destruction of the airframe. There were three fatalities among the occupants of the plane.
Findings
Investigations into the accident identified that the pilot was operating the aircraft at an altitude that was too low for the stage of flight. The crash was determined to be a controlled collision with the ground during the final approach, primarily caused by improper IFR operation by the pilot. Several environmental factors contributed to the difficulty of the approach, including:
- Reduced visibility of 2 miles or less
- Presence of fog and rain
- Low cloud ceilings
- Weather conditions that were slightly more severe than what had been previously forecasted