Beech B-55 accident near Nantucket, Massachusetts, December 1, 2005
On December 1, 2005 at about 9:44 pm local time, a Beech B-55, registered N64PW, was destroyed in an accident near Nantucket, Massachusetts (Nantucket Memorial airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to maintain the proper glidepath during the instrument approach, which resulted in controlled flight into water. Factors were the failure of the air traffic controllers to issue minimum safe altitude warnings, night lighting conditions, and a low ceiling.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- December 1, 2005 · about 9:44 pm local time
- Place
- Nantucket, Massachusetts · Nantucket Memorial · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Beech B-55 · all B-55s on the register
- Registration
- N64PW · registry record · serial TC2054
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The instrument rated pilot obtained a weather briefing from a flight service station (FSS), filed an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan, and proceeded in a Beech B-55 on a return flight to his home airport. The flight was in radio and radar contact with air traffic control (ATC). As the airplane intercepted the localizer course for the instrument landing system (ILS) approach, the Approach controller vectored the airplane off the localizer for spacing. The controller then vectored the airplane back onto the localizer, and cleared the flight for the ILS approach. At that time, the airplane was approximately 2 miles prior to the final approach fix (FAF), at 300 feet above the crossing altitude, and a groundspeed of 140 knots. The controller advised the pilot to contact the local air traffic control tower (ATCT), but did not provide a frequency. The controller was not required to provide the frequency, and recalled that the airplane was based at the destination airport. The airplane crossed the FAF at 300 feet above the crossing altitude, at a groundspeed of 110 knots. The airplane tracked the localizer course above the glideslope, and then flew below the glideslope during the approach. The Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS) generated the first of two Minimum Safe Altitude Warning (MSAW) alerts. At the time, the airplane was 600 to 700 feet agl; and a second MSAW alert was generated when the airplane was approximately 200 feet agl. The Approach and ATCT controllers were required to provide those warnings to the accident pilot; however, they did not. At 200 feet, the pilot asked the Approach controller for the local ATCT frequency. The Approach controller advised the pilot of the frequency, but radar contact and radio communication were lost when the airplane impacted the Atlantic Ocean approximately 1 mile from the airport. Night instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, with an overcast ceiling of 400 feet, and visibility 2 1/2 miles in light rain and mist.
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: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 5,000 hours in all; 400 in this make and model; 5 in the last 90 days; 2 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,592 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, April 1, 2005
- Maximum gross weight: 5,100 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: Continental IO-550-E (piston); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: Continental IO-550-E (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: TEB Teterboro NJ at 8:30 pm
- Destination: ACK Nantucket MA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 6, 6,303 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night
- Wind: from 020° at 17 knots
- Visibility: 2.5 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 400 ft
- Temperature: 45°F (7°C), dew point 41°F (5°C)
- Altimeter: 29.64 inHg
- Observation at 9:53 pm from ACK, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 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.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number NYC06FA040.