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NYC89FA177 · Beech A36

30 Jul 1989 · SALISBURY TWP, PA, United States

Beech A36 and Cessna 182B · Accident: midair collision on approach

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Event

NTSB case
NYC89FA177
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
7 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Aircraft 1 · Beech A36

Aircraft type
Beechcraft 36
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N2063V
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From 1N9 · Allentown, PATo not recorded
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Approach · VFR pattern downwind
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Midair collision
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Aircraft 2 · Cessna 182B

Aircraft type
Cessna 182
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N2639G
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From 1N9 · Allentown, PATo not recorded
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
En route · descent
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Midair collision
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Visual lookout, not maintained
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Visual lookout, not maintained

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE PILOT OF THE CESSNA 182 WAS DESCENDING IN A RIGHT TURN AFTER DROPPING PARACHUTE JUMPERS AT 4500 FT MSL. AS HE DESCENDED BELOW 1500 FT MSL, HIS AIRCRAFT COLLIDED WITH A BEECH A36. THE A36 HAD DEPARTED FROM THE QUEEN CITY AIRPORT AND WAS IN THE TRAFFIC PATTERN TO LAND AT THE AIRPORT WHEN THE COLLISION OCCURRED. THE CESSNA CRASHED IN A PAVED PARKING LOT OF A SHOPPING CENTER AND THE BEECH CRASHED INTO A NEW CAR DEALERSHIP'S PARKING LOT. BOTH AIRCRAFT WERE DESTROYED ALONG WITH SEVERAL CARS IN THE DEALERSHIP'S LOT.

Probable cause

THE FAILURE OF BOTH PILOTS TO SEE AND AVOID EACH OTHER. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THAT NEITHER PILOT WAS HEARD OVER THE RADIO ANNOUNCING THEIR POSITION AND INTENTIONS.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record NYC89FA177
Event ID
20001213X28948
Case number
NYC89FA177
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: a1c577fd9136dfa7104c1a2cca59ef7c52b14439c6dbbd564a43a1400697de08; retrieved 2026-09-21T03:13:06.765Z.