Plane Clipped Treetops While Executing Missed Approach

The pilot of the Vans RV-10 which went down near Lake Placid, NY, late last month said he tried to activate the airport's runway lights from the plane, but they did not come on, forcing him to execute what he characterized as a "missed approach."

Pilot Frank Dombroski told the Adirondack Daily Enterprise that the three men in the plane could see ground lights, but not anything marking the runways and taxiways at Lake Placid airport. He said it was possible that they just didn't see the lights, but did not think that was the case.

He said since the airport lights did not seem to be operating, he executed a "missed approach" and began to climb. The 54-year-old pilot said it had just gotten dark, and he presumes he drifted a little off course. When he saw the treetops, he pulled up hard, but was unable to avoid impacting the trees.

But the densely-wooded area also broke the airplane's fall. Dombroski said the plane spun around and came to rest at about a 45-degree nose-down attitude with the tail still stuck in the branches. The airplane never actually impacted the ground. None of the three people aboard were seriously injured, but they did spend a cold night on the ground waiting for rescuers to find them in the rugged region.

Airport manager Steve Short told the paper that he did not know why the lights did not come on when Dombroski tried to activate them. He said they were working later that night.

The NTSB's investigation into the accident is ongoing.

(New York State Department of Environmental Conservation photo)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov