Griffith - Somerset

On February 16, 2003 at 08:02 PM, Griffith - Somerset experienced a crash involving Cessna 421A Golden Eagle I, operated by Great Northern Aircraft, with the event recorded near Somerset Kentucky.

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.

7 people were known to be on board, 3 fatalities were recorded, 4 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 42.9%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 6, passenger fatalities: 2, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The airplane joined the inbound course for the GPS instrument approach between the intermediate approach fix and the final approach fix, and maintained an altitude about 200 feet below the sector minimum. The last radar return revealed the airplane to be about 3/4 nautical miles beyond the final approach fix, approximately 1,000 feet left of course centerline. An initial tree strike was found about 1 nautical mile before the missed approach point, about 700 feet left of course centerline, at an elevation about 480 feet below the minimum descent altitude. Witnesses reported seeing the airplane flying at a "very low altitude" just prior to its impact with hilly terrain, and also described the sound of the airplane's engines as "really loud" and "a constant roar." Night instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. There was no evidence of mechanical malfunction.

Aircraft reference details include registration N421TJ, MSN 421A-0051, year of manufacture 1968.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 37.0920°, -84.6041°.