Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Shunk, Pennsylvania 17768
Monday, September 7, 1998 16:53 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Two non-instrument-rated private pilots and three passengers decided to return home after a weekend visit. A friend tried to dissuade them from flying because of the existing weather conditions, but was told they had to return home because, among other things, the children's school started the next day. The friend then offered to drive home with them, and bring their rental car back. The pilots declined, but assured him they would not fly if the weather was too bad. At the airport, one of the pilots was seen checking the weather computer a number of times, and the group was noted as being 'pretty concerned about the weather.' The airplane departed Elmira where the weather was reported at 1622 hours as 3,600 foot overcast with light rain, and climbed to about 8,500 feet into, or near instrument meteorological conditions. The radar track showed the aircraft transitioning from a climbing right turn approximately 8,500 feet to a rapidly descending right turn. An altitude loss of 1,600 feet in 12 seconds was recorded. It was observed descending from a cloud layer, in a spin, with part of the left wing missing, just before impacting terrain. The pilot-owner was in the left front seat, and the other pilot was in the right front seat. At the time of the accident, the airplane was near its maximum gross weight. Post-crash metallurgical examination of left wing spar fracture surfaces revealed features typical of overstress separation and no pre-existing crack features.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot-in-command's attempted flight into known adverse weather conditions, his failure to maintain control of the aircraft, and his exceeding the airframe design limits resulting in separation of the outboard left wing. Contributing factors were clouds, self induced pressure, spatial disorientation, and the lack of instrument certification/experience of both the pilot and pilot/passenger.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/7/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1653 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | SHUNK |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 17768 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| 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 | 1654 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 215 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IPT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 530 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1470 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 7 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N453D |
| NTSB Number | NYC98FA180 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A23-24 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A23-24 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | MA-299 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 22 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 86 |
| Airframe Hours | 1661 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LEROY J. EDWARDS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2416 OWEN DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19808 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ELM |
| Departure City | ELMIRA |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1630 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | N01 |
| Destination City | NEW LONDON |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| 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 | -- |