ATL83FA129 · Beech K35
Beech K35 · Accident: in flight collision with object on approach
From Tri-Cities Regional TN/VA Airport (TRI) to Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM)
Event
- NTSB case
- ATL83FA129
- 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
- 2 · 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
Beech K35
- Aircraft type
- Beechcraft 35
- 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
- N9543R
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Tri-Cities Regional TN/VA Airport (TRI), TRI CITIES, TNTo Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM), Birmingham, AL
- 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 · IFR initial approach
- 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
- In flight collision with object
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Tree(s)
- 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 › IFR procedure, not followed
- Pilot in command › Minimum descent altitude, not maintained
- Pilot in command › Overconfidence in personal ability
- Pilot in command › Visual lookout, not maintained
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH TREES AND TERRAIN DURING A PRACTICE LOCALIZER APPROACH AT NIGHT TO RWY 23 AT BIRMINGHAM MUNICIPALARPT. THE WEATHER WAS VMC AND THE PILOT WAS NOT INSTRUMENT RATED. ON APPROACHING BIRMINGHAM FROM TRI-CITIES, NC THE PILOT ASKED FOR A LOCALIZER APPROACH. HE WAS CLEARED FOR THE APPROACH AND DESCENT TO 3000 FT. AT 1925 WHEN ASKED IF HE WAS RECEIVING THE LOCALIZER HE ANSWERED 'AFFIRMATIVE-ON GLIDE PATH, EXCUSE ME, ON THE CENTER.' HE WAS ADVISED OF HIS POSITION 13 MILES FROM THE ROEBY RADIO BEACON AND CLEARED FOR THE APPROACH. HE ACKNOWLEDGED THE CLEARANCE AND INSTRUCTION TO REMAIN VFR. THE LOCAL CONTROLLER FOLLOWED HIM ON RADAR (NO ALT) AND LOST THE RETURN WHEN THE TARGET WAS 6 MILES FROM THE ARPT. THE CRASH SITE WAS ABOUT ON COURSE NEAR THE CREST OF A 1240 FT MOUNTAIN ABOUT 2 MILES OUTSIDE THEOUTER MARKER. PROCEDURES DICTATE THAT 2000 FT BE MAINTAINED UNTIL INSIDE THE OUTER MARKER. A WITNESS SAW THE ACFT DESCENDING AND HEARD AN INCREASE IN ENGINE NOISE AND SAW THE NOSE OF THE ACFT COME UP BEFORE HITTING THE TREES.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ATL83FA129
- Event ID
- 20001214X42328
- Case number
- ATL83FA129
- 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: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1983-03-07.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 586a573c982f6542206917618b15329e49b689512b867590e957471189af1e0a; retrieved 2026-09-21T07:05:42.154Z.