IAI 1125 Astra SP | N1125A

The DTSB determines the Probable Cause of this accident to be Pilot Error, in that the pilot allowed the aircraft to be flown at a lower speed than would account for both increasing performance and decreasing performance gusts. The aircraft entered an aerodynamic stall prior to reaching the runway plateau and was destroyed upon impact.

Probable Cause issued 5/21/2026 – 26 months after the accident: The PIC’s continuation of an unstabilized approach in gusting wind conditions and his failure to monitor the airplane’s altitude during the approach, which led to a descent into terrain short of the runway. Contributing was the flight crew’s failure to set the appropriate altimeter setting and failure to properly configure the avionics for the ILS approach.

The DTSB recommends that all pilots of all aircraft become familiar with Vref, and appropriate Vref wind additives. The DTSB recommends that pilots compute and add one half of the steady state headwind value, plus all of the gust value as reported above the steady reference, and then add that figure to their calculated Vref, using that final result as a minimum, up to a maximum addition of 20 knots.