N5363P – Beech A36 – 2006-07-16 NTSB Accident Report

On July 16, 2006, a Beech A36 (N5363P) was involved in an incident near Somerville, NJ. All 2 people aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The pilot's continued flight into known adverse weather.

As the Beech A36 approached the destination airport at night, the pilot cancelled his instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan. On final approach, the pilot lost visual contact with the runway environment when the airplane entered a "dense ground fog bank" approximately 100 feet above ground level and 1/4 mile from the runway threshold. The pilot was "blinded" by the reflection of the airplane's landing light in the fog, initiated a go-around, but the airplane struck a tree and impacted terrain seconds later. The pilot stated that he obtained the current Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) report minutes prior to the accident, and the field was "within VFR parameters." The pilot was also aware of the possibility of ground fog.

This incident is documented in NTSB report NYC06CA177. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N5363P.