Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pymatuning, Pennsylvania 16125
Friday, December 29, 1995 1:20 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane had departed between 1900 and 2000. About 2215 it was observed on radar in a climbing turn. The pilot was not in radio contact with any ATC facility. The airplane continued to climb past 21,000 feet. About 0045, an ATC controller established radio contact with the pilot. The pilot indicated that he was out of fuel. The airplane was observed descending out of 21,000 feet. The pilot was transferred to another controller, and the pilot advised him that he was out of 21,000 feet and requested an approach. The controller informed the pilot of an airport 5 miles north of the airplane's position; however, the pilot declined the advice and stated, 'Yeah, I prefer water.' Similar conversations continued for the next 20 minutes, where the controller offered assistance and advice, and the pilot continued to request a water landing. During the descent, the pilot made a comment concerning the water, 'All things considered, I think that would be the best place to go.' He also stated, 'As you might have guessed, I have not had a good day...Ah you don't understand, I'm going swimming tonight.' The pilot's last transmission reported, 'Uh, I thing [sic] it's right under me.' The airplane then struck an ice covered reservoir in a nose down attitude, and the engine and cockpit areas penetrated the 6-inch thick ice. The airplane was operated by a flying club, overdue an annual maintenance inspection, and was not scheduled to be flown. The pilot's automobile had been involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident the night before the takeoff, and an arrest warrant had been issued for the pilot.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's intentional suicide.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/29/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 120 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | PYMATUNING |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 16125 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 106 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | YNG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1196 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1955 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 29 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3290Y |
| NTSB Number | NYC96LA044 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 182E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18254290 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 8 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 330 |
| Airframe Hours | 4430 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J-5 FLYING CLUB OF AKRON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2858 SOUTH ARLINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner City | AKRON |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 44312 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | AKR |
| Departure City | AKRON |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1930 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |