Grand Island - Saranac Lake

On December 27, 1972 at 10:02 PM, Grand Island - Saranac Lake experienced a crash involving Lockheed L-1329 JetStar, operated by Fluor Corp., with the event recorded near Saranac Lake-Adirondack New York.

The flight was categorized as executive/corporate/business and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

3 people were known to be on board, 3 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The crew started the approach to Saranac Lake-Adirondack Airport by night and encountered poor visibility due to fog and snow showers. Unable to locate the runway, the captain decided to abandon the approach and initiated a go-around. Few minutes later, a second attempt to land was also abandoned for similar reasons. During a third attempt, the airplane passed below the MDA and once at an altitude of 2,140 feet, it struck trees and crashed in a wooded area located about 2 miles short of runway threshold. The aircraft was destroyed and all three crew members were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration N400M, MSN 5008, year of manufacture 1961.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 44.3309°, -74.1326°.