Cessna 172M Skyhawk, N9853Q: Accident occurred December 02, 2012 in Rochester, Minnesota

It's not often we hear firsthand the stories of how plane crashes occur, especially the one in Rochester last week in which four people on their way home from the Packers-Vikings game in Green Bay, ended up upside down in a crashed plane.

The cemeteries are full of pilots and passengers who tried to land an airplane in bad weather.

But pilot Scott Lebovitz, 23, of Owatonna, and three passengers Daniel Cronk, 36; Alan De Keyrel, 38; and a 9-year-old boy, all from Byron -- suffered only bumps and bruises.

Mr. De Keyrel has written a compelling account of the incident (and provided very interesting pictures) on his company's website...

Read more here:   http://minnesota.publicradio.org

http://registry.faa.gov/N9853Q

NTSB Identification: CEN13LA088 
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, December 02, 2012 in Rochester, MN
Aircraft: CESSNA 172M, registration: N9853Q
Injuries: 4 Minor.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On December 2, 2012, about 1833 central standard time, a Cessna model 172M airplane, N9853Q, was substantially damaged when it collided with terrain during an instrument approach into Rochester International Airport (KRST), Rochester, Minnesota. The commercial pilot and three passengers sustained minor injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by the Southeastern Minnesota Flying Club, Inc. under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 while on an instrument flight plan. Night instrument meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross-country flight that departed from Austin Straubel International Airport (KGRB), Green Bay, Wisconsin, at 1603.

According to preliminary air traffic control data, the accident flight had been cleared for the instrument landing system (ILS) runway 13 approach into KRST. The accident flight was subsequently cleared to land on runway 13 after crossing-over the outer marker while on the inbound course.

After the accident, the pilot was interviewed by local law enforcement about the events leading up to the accident. The pilot reportedly said that he was flying the instrument approach into the airport and as he approached the decision altitude, 200 feet above the runway touchdown zone elevation, he was unable see the runway environment due the weather conditions. He reportedly increased engine power for a missed-approach, but the airplane subsequently impacted terrain and nosed-over.

At 1754, about 39 minutes before the accident, the airport’s automated surface observing system reported the following weather conditions: wind 140 degrees true at 12 knots, visibility 1/4 mile with fog, runway 31 visual range (RVR) variable 1,000 feet to 1,200 feet, vertical visibility 100 feet, temperature 03 degrees Celsius, dew point 02 degrees Celsius, altimeter setting 29.94 inches of mercury. The weather report indicated that the control tower visibility was 1/4 mile.

At 1854, about 21 minutes after the accident, the airport’s automated surface observing system reported the following weather conditions: wind 140 degrees true at 11 knots, visibility 1/4 mile with fog, runway 31 visual range (RVR) 1,200 feet, vertical visibility 100 feet, temperature 04 degrees Celsius, dew point 02 degrees Celsius, altimeter setting 29.93 inches of mercury. The weather report indicated that the control tower visibility was 1/4 mile.