Aftermath: Failure to Land

Peter Garrison

Sunday, May 18, 2014 at 07:12 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A pilot encountered deteriorating weather conditions and failed multiple instrument approaches at several airports during an IFR flight, eventually leading to a fatal crash due to fuel exhaustion.
The NTSB attributed the accident to the pilot's failure to land at airports with adequate instrument approach procedures (including not utilizing an available ILS approach) and his significant delay in declaring a fuel-related emergency.
The article emphasizes the pilot's reluctance to declare an emergency, despite critically low fuel, highlighting that while a controller's unhelpful tone may have played a role, the ultimate responsibility for timely emergency declaration rests with the pilot.

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The 600-hour, instrument-rated pilot of a Piper Arrow left Georgia early on a Sunday afternoon for Delaware, where he was scheduled to perform a surgery the following day. The forecast weather at the destination and nearby airports was near minimums; the pilot filed Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) as his alternate.

As he approached his filed destination of Summit Airport (EVY) in Middletown, Delaware, he got a call from the Dover Air Force Base approach controller who was working him.