Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Bradford Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bradford, Pennsylvania 16701
Wednesday, February 7, 1996 16:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The first officer (FO) was on the controls, and had completed the VOR-DME approach, which had been notamed 'out of service' at the time of the accident. A witness observed the airplane in a high flare above the runway threshold, watched it drop vertically, landing hard on the main landing gear, bounce and bank to the left. The left wing struck the runway, the airplane veered to the left, and departed the runway. The Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) Study showed that while on approach, the airplane rolled approximately 20 degrees to the right. During this roll 'it appears that full power was applied to the engines.' The right engine reached full power about '2 seconds' before the left engine, and this occurrence was immediately followed by a 38 degree roll to the left and then a three-plus 'g' spike in the vertical acceleration when the wings became level again. According to the captain's statement, he took control of the airplane after it yawed from right to left. The flight initially touched down at 584 feet from the end of Runway 14, the left wing tip touched the pavement three separate times before the aircraft departed the runway at a 40 degree angle, traveling through rough terrain and coming to rest approximately 1148 feet from the point where it exited the runway. The FO's date of hire was 1/9/96, and this was her first line trip with the airline.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot misjudged the flare during landing. Factors in the accident were: an improper recovery from a bounced landing, and the first officers lack of experience in this type operation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/7/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | BRADFORD |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 16701 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | BRADFORD REGIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BFD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2106 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1551 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2106 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 0 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 21 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 14 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 310 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 7 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1715 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 9 2011 12:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N159YV |
| NTSB Number | NYC96LA058 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | 1900D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 1900D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | UE159 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 17060 |
| 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 | 21 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 4 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 16 |
| Airframe Hours | 1135 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MESA AIR GROUP, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2325 E. 30TH STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | FARMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87401 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | LIBERTY AIRLINES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | POB 366 |
| Operator City | FALLS CREEK |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 15840 |
| Operator Code | MASA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PIT |
| Departure City | PITTSBURGH |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1510 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | BFD |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 9 2011 12:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 14 |
| Runway Length | 6499 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |