The certified Flight Instructor, pilot-rated passenger and non-rated passenger received fatal injuries and the airplane was destroyed at 1013 Eastern time after colliding with a power line, trees and the ground while on an ILS approach to Runway 5 at the Donaldson Center (S.C.) Airport. Instrument conditions prevailed and an IFR flight plan was filed for the cross-country Part 91 flight which originated from Jacksonville, Fla., at about 0800.As the airplane executed the ILS approach, an air traffic controller observed it to descend below the minimum safe altitude of 2500 feet. Attempts by the air traffic controller to reestablish radio contact with the pilot were unsuccessful. At 1021, the local 911 operators received a telephone call, at which time the caller reported the downed airplane 9.4 nm south of the airport. The crash site revealed a damaged power line about 75 feet above the ground tops of four trees that were also damaged.
December 9, 2004, Pelzer, S.C. / Diamond Aircraft DA40-180
The certified Flight Instructor, pilot-rated passenger and non-rated passenger received fatal injuries and the airplane was destroyed at 1013 Eastern time after colliding with a power line, trees and the ground while on an ILS approach to Runway 5 at the Donaldson Center (S.C.) Airport. Instrument conditions prevailed and an IFR flight plan was filed for the cross-country Part 91 flight which originated from Jacksonville, Fla., at about 0800.As the airplane executed the ILS approach, an air traffic controller observed it to descend below the minimum safe altitude of 2500 feet. Attempts by the air traffic controller to reestablish radio contact with the pilot were unsuccessful. At 1021, the l...
Key Takeaways:
- An airplane carrying a certified Flight Instructor, a pilot-rated passenger, and a non-rated passenger crashed fatally during an ILS approach to Donaldson Center Airport.
- The accident occurred in instrument conditions, with the aircraft colliding with a power line, trees, and the ground, resulting in the destruction of the plane.
- Air traffic control observed the plane descend below the minimum safe altitude of 2500 feet and subsequently lost radio contact before the crash was reported.
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