IAD05CA015 · SOCATA TB 21-TC
SOCATA TB 21-TC · Accident: in flight collision with object on approach
From Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (AVP) to Greater Binghamton/Edwin A Link field (BGM)
Event
- NTSB case
- IAD05CA015
- 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
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- 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
- Instrument Meteorological Cond
SOCATA TB 21-TC
- Aircraft type
- Socata TB-21
- 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
- N55510
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (AVP), WILKES-BARRE/SC, PATo Greater Binghamton/Edwin A Link field (BGM), Binghamton, NY
- 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 final 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
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Clearance, not maintained
- Pilot in command › Decision height, not maintained
- Pilot in command › Procedures/directives, improper
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The reported ceilings were 200 feet overcast, and the pilot continued with the ILS Runway 34 approach. During the approach the airplane was "low and off centerline," the pilot initiated the missed approach procedure, and the airplane struck trees during the climb. The airplane continued to climb, and the pilot returned to his departure airport and completed a safe landing. The pilot reported that the airplane's handling and performance were "great," and that there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane. When asked what led to the collision with trees, he responded, "Pilot error; I'm not blaming anyone but me."
Probable cause
The pilot's improper IFR procedure by his flight below the decision altitude, and his failure to maintain obstacle clearance.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record IAD05CA015
- Event ID
- 20041222X02021
- Case number
- IAD05CA015
- 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, coordinates. 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: 5d3c2bfe715698585b874178894d6e69886194f6472c2020dccb126dd72a7f2c; retrieved 2026-09-22T06:30:36.425Z.