Accident Details
The pilot departed on a night cross-country flight without obtaining a weather briefing or filing a flight plan. Upon arrival in the area of the destination airport, the weather was reported as 2 statute miles visibility and mist, with an overcast cloud layer at 100 feet. The pilot then requested an instrument flight rules clearance from the approach controller, who vectored the airplane for the ILS 24 approach. The clearance included an altitude restriction of 1,500 feet mean sea level until established on the localizer.
Weather and Approach
After contacting the control tower, the tower controller issued a low altitude alert to the pilot. The pilot replied that he was climbing, and the controller cleared the pilot to land, which the pilot acknowledged. No further pertinent radio transmissions were received from the airplane. The airplane came to rest in a wooded area about three-quarters of a mile from the runway threshold, and about 50 feet to the right of the extended centerline.
A review of the ILS 24 approach plate revealed that the minimum glide slope intercept altitude at the beginning of the final approach segment on the precision approach was 1,500 feet. The glide slope altitude at the final approach fix for the non-precision approach, located about 4 miles from the approach end of the runway, was 1,407 feet. The glide slope altitude at the middle marker, located about 0.6 miles from the approach end of the runway, was 299 feet.
Radar Data
Radar data showed that the airplane was observed at 700 feet about 4 miles from the airport, and at 300 feet about 1.5 miles from the airport.
Pilot Background
The pilot had accumulated about 1,946 hours of total flight experience, with about 252 hours in the make and model of the airplane. He had attended initial and recurrent training for the make and model, but did not complete the training. The pilot was Charles B. Yates, a member of the New Jersey Senate, who was flying to Martha's Vineyard with his wife and two of his three children.
Probable Cause
The probable cause of the accident was the pilot's failure to follow instrument flight procedures resulting in a collision with a tree. A factor related to the accident was the low cloud ceiling.