Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Northeast Philadelphia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19149
Thursday, March 7, 1996 18:36 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot received a preflight weather briefing and was advised of precautions for occasional moderated mixed and rime icing, as well as isolated severe mixed and clear icing, along the route of flight. En route, he encountered icing conditions and ice accretion on the aircraft. Manifold pressure began decreasing, and the pilot was unable to maintain altitude. Subsequently, he made a forced landing in a residential area, and the airplane struck a house and a car. The pilot stated, 'At 5000 feet, I expected to be above the freezing level, due to a temperature inversion, this was the case until I reached the Philadelphia area, I then encountered light mixed icing on the leading edges...Subsequently my manifold pressure dropped to 21 inches, and I began to lose altitude...Although I expected to receive an increase in manifold pressure on my descent, none occurred. At about 2000 feet, I felt that I could not make (a nearby airport) and declared a mayday. I was maintaining 95 knots.' Postaccident examination of the airplane included an functional check of the engine in a test cell. The engine operated rich below 1800 RPM, and takeoff power was achieved. No mechanical discrepancies were noted with the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper planning/decision, and his resultant flight into known icing conditions, which resulted in ice accumulation, loss of engine power, a forced landing, and subsequent collision with a residence and a vehicle. A factor relating to the accident was: the adverse weather (icing) condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/7/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1836 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | PHILADELPHIA |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19149 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA |
| 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 | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 240 |
| Airport Elevation | 121 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1750 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 60 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PNE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 121 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| 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) | 1.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 2 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 559 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 7 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1950 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6625P |
| NTSB Number | NYC96LA071 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | C24R |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | C24R |
| Aircraft Serial Number | MC678 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2750 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 145 |
| Airframe Hours | 2987 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ATTITUDE AIRWAYS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 378 |
| Aircraft Owner City | RAMSEY |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07446 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | ROBERT W. SCHMELZER |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 378 |
| Operator City | RAMSEY |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 07446 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FDK |
| Departure City | FREDERICK |
| Departure State | MD |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TEB |
| Destination City | TETERBORO |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| 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 | 6 |
| Runway Length | 7000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |