Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Somerville, New Jersey 08876
Wednesday, March 4, 1998 14:10 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
"THIS CASE WAS MODIFIED AUGUST 2, 2006."
The Piper Apache was cruising at about 1,500 feet AGL, when a witness saw the vertical stabilizer start to oscillate and then separate from the airplane. The airplane descended and struck a multiple family dwelling. Examination of the wreckage revealed the outboard wing panels had separated from the airplane in flight due to downward bending forces that occurred after the in-flight separation of the horizontal stabilizer. The horizontal stabilizer was found next to the vertical stabilizer apart from the main fuselage and wing wreckage and had separated, in-flight, in a horizontal twisting motion that pushed the left tip of the horizontal stabilizer rearward. An impact mark on the left outboard leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer was consistent with a soft bodied impact that occurred prior to ground impact. Although one witness reported seeing several birds flying in the area at the time of the accident, examination of the left horizontal stabilizer and elevator failed to find any evidence of blood, feathers, or bird remains. A detailed and comprehensive examination of the accident site area failed to reveal any evidence of a bird carcass, or bird feathers. Aircraft components composed of both aluminum and fiberglass were mounted forward of the empennage, however the impact mark showed no residual evidence of being struck by either material. A determination of the source of the soft bodied impact could not be made. The vertical stabilizer is attached to the horizontal stabilizer, and this assembly is then attached to the fuselage through four attach points. The damage to the vertical stabilizer attach points indicates that they failed toward the left (as viewed from the rear looking forward) and were securely attached to the horizontal stabilizer at the time of failure. Three of the four bolts that attach the horizontal stabilizer to the fuselage were recovered. The forward two attach points were torn out of the horizontal stabilizer during the in-flight separation. Compression damage to the lower skin immediately forward of the aft, left attach point indicates that it was securely attached. No evidence was found to indicate that any of the attach points were unsecured prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
in-flight separation of the empennage for undetermined reasons.
"THIS CASE WAS MODIFIED AUGUST 2, 2006."
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/4/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1410 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | SOMERVILLE |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08876 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1354 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 222 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TTN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 213 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5500 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1345 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 4 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1455 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 2 2006 1:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3374P |
| NTSB Number | NYC98FA073 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-23-160 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-23-160 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 23-1334 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3800 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 5 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 95 |
| Airframe Hours | 4745 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GIBSON AIR ACADEMY INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 221 CRANBERRY ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | FARMINGDALE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07727 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | LINO FAZIO |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 421 DOCK STREET |
| Operator City | UNION BEACH |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 07735 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 4N1 |
| Departure City | WEST MILFORD |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | -- |
| Departure Time | 1350 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 2N8 |
| Destination City | MATAWAN |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 2 2006 1:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | LEMA |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |