ATL87FA001 · Piper J3-65C
Piper J3-65C and Cessna 182R · Accident: midair collision on approach
Event
- NTSB case
- ATL87FA001
- 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
- 3 · 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 · Piper J3-65C
- Aircraft type
- Piper J3
- 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
- N70414
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Wayne Executive Jetport (GWW), Goldsboro, NCTo 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 final
- 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 182R
- 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
- N9384X
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Asheville Regional Airport (AVL), Asheville, NCTo Wayne Executive Jetport (GWW), Goldsboro, NC
- 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 final
- 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, poor
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE J-3 CUB HAD BEEN PRACTICING TOUCH AND GO LANDINGS AT THE UNCONTROLLED AIRPORT WHEN THE CESSNA 182 WAS RETURNING FROM A CROSS-COUNTRY FLIGHT. THE PILOT OF THE CESSNA HAD RECEIVED UNICOM AIRPORT ADVISORIES THAT INDICATED RWY 22 WAS THE ACTIVE RUNWAY. THE CUB WAS NOT EQUIPPED WITH A RADIO. LOCAL AIRPORT TRAFFIC POSITIONS WERE REPORTEDLY NOT DISCUSSED. AN EYEWITNESS REPORTED THAT THE CUB WAS ON A DOWNWIND POSITION FOR A LANDING ON RWY 22 WHEN HE NOTICED THE CESSNA ENTER A CROSSWIND FOR RWY 22. THE WITNESS STATED THAT THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE ACFT CONTINUED TO DECREASE. ON FINAL APPROACH TO RWY 22, THE CESSNA WAS BEHIND THE CUB WHEN THE ACFT COLLIDED AND FELL TO THE GROUND.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ATL87FA001
- Event ID
- 20001213X34902
- Case number
- ATL87FA001
- 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: 11bf152b585be5eabb4abff5c65a917d3c8281907e33222d986f14c4febe4be6; retrieved 2026-09-21T04:22:34.166Z.