marker, but did not arrest its descent and hold altitude at , as required by the assigned instrument approach procedure. Instead, the descent continued for another for unknown reasons, apparently without either crew member actually seeing the airport lights or runway. In the transcript of their cockpit communications in the final minutes, the pilots briefly debated that their autopilot had "captured" for a glide slope descent, although the airport was only equipped with a localizer. The report also noted that the craft approached the Catlettsburg Refinery in the final 30 seconds before impact, which "could have...affected...a visual illusion produced by the difference in the elevation of the refinery and the airport," which was nearly higher than the refinery, with hills in between. The co-pilot, monitoring the altimeter, called out, "It's beginning to lighten up a little bit on the ground here at... seven hundred feet... We're two hundred above [the descent vector]," and the charter coordinator replied, "Bet it'll be a missed approach." The corresponding flight recorder shows that the craft descended another in elevation within these 12 seconds, and the co-pilot calls out "four hundred" and agrees with the pilot they are on the correct "approach." In the next second, though, the co-pilot quickly calls out new readings, "hundred and twenty-six ... hundred", and the sounds of impact immediately follow. Crash The airliner continued on final approach to Tri-State Airport when it collided with the tops of trees on a hillside west of runway 11 (now runway 12). The plane burst into flames and created a swath of charred ground wide and long. According to the official National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report, the accident was "unsurvivable". The aircraft "dipped to the right, almost inverted, and had crashed into a hollow 'nose-first'". By the time the plane came to a stop, it was short of the runway and south of the middle marker. Although the airport runway has since been lengthened past its original threshold, making historical measurements more difficult, the NTSB official report provides, "the accident occurred during hours of darkness at 38° 22' 27" N. latitude and 82° 34' 42" W. longitude." The report additionally notes, "Most of the fuselage was melted or reduced to a powder-like substance; however, several large pieces were scattered throughout the burned area." The remains of six passengers were never identified. Investigation The NTSB investigated the accident and its final report was