At about 1950 Eastern time, the airplane was substantially damaged when it collided with wooded terrain. The private pilot and passenger were killed. Night visual conditions prevailed for the IFR flight. The pilot was in radar and radio contact with ATC as the flight approached its destination. The airplane began a descent from 7000 feet msl to 4000 feet, radioed he had the destination in sight and canceled his IFR clearance. The airplane continued a visual descent to its destination, and there was no further contact with ATC. The airplane was found by a hunter on November 11, 2010, about five miles southwest of its destination at an elevation of 1861 feet msl. According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, for the GBR area, sunset occurred at 1637, the end of civil twilight occurred at 1706, and moonset occurred at 2034. The phase of the moon was waxing crescent with 22 percent of the moons visible disc illuminated.
November 10, 2010, Copake, N.Y., Mooney M20F
At about 1950 Eastern time, the airplane was substantially damaged when it collided with wooded terrain. The private pilot and passenger were killed. Night visual conditions prevailed for the IFR flight. The pilot was in radar and radio contact with ATC as the flight approached its destination. The airplane began a descent from 7000 feet msl to 4000 feet, radioed he had the destination in sight and canceled his IFR clearance.
Key Takeaways:
- A private pilot and passenger were killed when their airplane crashed into wooded terrain approximately five miles southwest of its destination at about 1950 Eastern time.
- The pilot had canceled his IFR clearance to proceed visually after sighting the destination, but there was no further contact with ATC before the crash.
- The incident occurred during night conditions, well after sunset and the end of civil twilight, with minimal moon illumination (22% waxing crescent), suggesting very poor visibility for a visual descent.
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