Investigation Summary
The flight was a scheduled commuter service from New York's LaGuardia Airport to Hyannis. During the final approach phase in darkness and instrument meteorological conditions, the aircraft descended below the glideslope and struck trees in Camp Greenough. The NTSB investigation highlighted that the captain failed to acknowledge multiple altitude callouts from the first officer, including 'minimums' and '100 feet below'. The Board believed that the captain's performance was seriously impaired by a degraded physiological condition, although the exact nature was not conclusively determined. The impact occurred in a remote, densely wooded area, which significantly complicated rescue efforts. Emergency responders had to use a brush-clearing truck to create a path to the wreckage. The survival of nine out of ten occupants was attributed to the relatively low speed of the Twin Otter at impact and the cushioning effect of the dense forest canopy, though the cockpit area sustained the most severe damage, resulting in the death of the captain.
Final Conclusions
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the accident and issued report NTSB/AAR-80/02. The Board determined the probable cause was the flight crew's failure to recognize and react to a gross deviation from approach parameters, leading to a descent below decision height without visual contact. Contributing factors included the captain's degraded physiological condition and a lack of adequate crew coordination practices.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain
George Parmenter, co-founder of the airline. Fatally injured.
First Officer
Survived with injuries.
Systems & Failure Modes
Instrument Landing System (ILS)
A precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft crashed approximately 1.5 miles northeast of the airport runway.
- 02The captain, George Parmenter, was a co-founder of Air New England.
- 03The crash site was located within a Boy Scouts of America camp known as Camp Greenough.
- 04One passenger, Robert Sabbag, later wrote a book titled 'Down Around Midnight' detailing the experience.
- 05The passenger who reached the highway to flag down help was a woman.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Crew Coordination Procedures
The NTSB highlighted the lack of adequate crew coordination practices and procedures, which contributed to the first officer's failure to detect and react to the captain's performance issues in a timely manner.