Embraer EMB-110P1 accident near Alpena, Michigan, March 14, 1986
On March 14, 1986 at about 3:00 am local time, a Embraer EMB-110P1, registered N1356P, was destroyed in an accident near Alpena, Michigan (Phelps-Collins airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 3 people were killed, 5 people were seriously injured and 1 person had minor injuries. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 14, 1986 · about 3:00 am local time
- Place
- Alpena, Michigan · Phelps-Collins · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 3 people were killed, 5 people were seriously injured and 1 person had minor injuries.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Embraer EMB-110P1 · all EMB-110P1s on the register
- Registration
- N1356P · no longer on the register · serial 110370
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
DRG ARRIVAL AT 2125 EST, SIMMONS AIRLINE FLT 1746 WAS ADZD BY WURTSMITH AFB APCH CTL THAT THE 2052 EST WX AT PHELPS COLLINS ARPT WAS: SKY PARTIALLY OBSCD, CEILING 100' OVERCAST, VIS 1/2 MI WITH LGT DRIZZLE & FOG, & TO EXPECT AN ILS APCH. HOWEVER, AT 2119, A SPL WX OBS WAS TAKEN WHICH SHOWED THE VIS HAD DECREASED TO 3/8 MI, WHICH WAS BLO MINS. THIS INFO HAD NOT REACH WURTSMITH UNTIL SOMETIME LATER SINCE THE SYS FOR SENDING WX FROM PELLSTON FSS TO WURTSMITH WAS NOT AUTOMATED & WAS SLOW. FLT 1746 CONTD THE APCH, BUT THE PLTS DID NOT CLRLY SEE THE RWY LGTS, SO THEY MADE A MISSED APCH &ELECTED TO MAKE A 2ND ILS APCH. AT 2146, ANOTHER SPL WX OBS WAS TAKEN WHICH SHOWED THE VIS HAD DECREASED FURTHER TO 1/4 MI. THIS INFO WAS PROVIDED TO THE SIMMONS STATION MGR AT ALPENA, WHO TRIED TO CONTACT FLT 1746, BUT WAS UNABLE. AT APRX 2200 EST, THE ACFT HIT TREES & CRASHED ABOUT 1-1/2 MI SHORT OF RWY 1. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT FLT 1746 HAD CONTD BLO THEILS GLIDE SLOPE & DECISION HEIGHT (DH) WITHOUT OBTAINING VISUAL REFERENCE OF THE RWY.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,384 hours in all; 574 in this make and model; 172 in the last 90 days; 73 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 9,698 hours
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded
- Maximum gross weight: 12,500 lb
- Seats: 17
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W PT6A-34 (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
- Operator: Simmons Airlines
The flight
- Departed from: DTW Detriot MI at 1:37 am
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 1, 9,001 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 060° at 4 knots
- Sky: not recorded at 100 ft
- Temperature: 34°F (1°C), dew point 34°F (1°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | 1 | ||
| Passengers | 2 | 4 | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N1356P the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.