Piper PA-31-350 accident near Latrobe, Pennsylvania, May 18, 1985
On May 18, 1985, a Piper PA-31-350, registered N66892, was destroyed in an accident near Latrobe, Pennsylvania (Westmoreland County airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 5 people were seriously injured and 2 people 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
- May 18, 1985
- Place
- Latrobe, Pennsylvania · Westmoreland County · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 5 people were seriously injured and 2 people had minor injuries.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-31-350 · all PA-31-350s on the register
- Registration
- N66892 · no longer on the register · serial 31-7405191
- 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 AN IFR ARRIVAL, THE ACFT WAS VECTORED FOR AN NDB RWY 23 APCH TO THE WESTMORELAND COUNTY ARPT. AT THE NDB FINAL APCH FIX (8.1 MI FROM THE RWY), THE CREW TURNED INBOUND & CONTD TO THE ARPT. THEY CONTACTED THE TOWER & REPORTED OVER THE ILS OUTER MARKER (AN INTERMEDIATE POINT ON THE NDB FINAL APCH, 3.9 MI FROM THE RWY). THE TOWER ISSUED THE LOCAL LANDING ADVISORIES & CLEARED THE ACFT TO LAND. MOMENTS AFTER THE COPLT ADVISED THE CAPT THAT THEY WERE 15 SEC FROM THE MISSED APCH PT, THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH TREES. IMPACT OCCURRED 3.8 MI SE OF THE ARPT AT THE MIN DSCNT ALT (MDA) OF 1900 FT MSL. AN EXAM OF THE ACFT RECORDS INDICATED A RECURRING & CURRENT SQUAWK CONCERNING THE HSI SLAVING SYS. JUST BEFORE BEGINNINGTHE APCH, THE LATROBE WIND HAD CHANGED FROM 230 DEG AT 4 KTS (A HEADWIND) TO A STRONG QUARTERING TAIL WIND. DRG ARRIVAL THE CREW WERE ADVISED THE WIND WAS FROM 340 DEG AT 18 KTS. THEY HAD FIGURED THEIR TIMING TO THE MISSED APCH PT BY USING A GND SPEED OF 120 KTS. EARLIER THAT DAY, THE SAME CREW & ACFT HAD TERMINATED THE SAME NDB APCH, 1 MI EAST OF THE ARPT.
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, flight instructor
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,350 hours in all; 280 in this make and model; 190 in the last 90 days; 3,150 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 9,567 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, May 4, 1985; 45 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 7,000 lb
- Seats: 10
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming TIO-540-J2BD (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Cumberland Airlines
The flight
- Departed from: PIT Pittsburgh PA at 2:49 pm
- Destination: LBE
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 23, 5,501 ft by 100 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: dusk
- Wind: from 340° at 18 knots
- Visibility: 4 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 800 ft
- Temperature: 57°F (14°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 11:45 pm from LBE, 32 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 3 | 2 |
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.
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.