Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Raleigh County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Beckley, West Virginia 25813
Wednesday, March 17, 1993 19:11 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AFTER VERIFYING WEATHER WAS ABOVE MINIMUMS FOR LANDING, THE CAPTAIN BEGAN AN ILS RUNWAY 19 APPROACH AT NIGHT IN CONDITIONS OF SNOW, DRIZZLE & RIGHT QUARTERING TAILWIND. INTERVIEWS WITH THE PILOTS & INFORMATION ON THE COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER REVEALED THE APPROACH LIGHTS WERE IN SIGHT BEFORE REACHING THE DECISION HEIGHT. THE PILOTS STATED THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN 'SLIGHTLY LEFT OF CENTERLINE,' THEN THEY 'LOST SIGHT OF THE RUNWAY EDGE LIGHTS.' AT ABOUT THAT TIME, THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN ON AN UNPLOWED PORTION (SIDE) OF THE PARTIALLY PLOWED RUNWAY, ABOUT 60' LEFT OF THE CENTERLINE. THE LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED & THE AIRPLANE SLID TO A STOP WITH SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGED. THE PILOTS HAD CHECKED NOTAMS & WERE AWARE THAT 130' OF THE 150' WIDE RUNWAY WAS PLOWED, BUT THE NOTAM DID NOT STATE THAT PLOWING WAS NOT CENTERED. ACCORDING TO FAA ADVISORY CIRCULAR AC 150/5200-30A, 'DETAILS' CONCERNING A PARTIALLY PLOWED RUNWAY SHOULD BE REPORTED VIA NOTAM. THE 2' SNOW BANKS AT THE EDGES OF THE RUNWAY WERE SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN THE RUNWAY EDGE LIGHTS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE CAPTAIN TO ASSURE PROPER ALIGNMENT WITH THE PLOWED PORTION OF THE RUNWAY (OR PERFORM A MISSED APPROACH). FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: DARKNESS, THE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITION, INADEQUATE REMOVAL OF SNOW FROM THE RUNWAY WITH SNOW ALONG THE LEFT EDGE OF THE RUNWAY, AND THE LACK OF VISUAL CUES (PERCEPTION) FOR THE PILOT(S).
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/17/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1911 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | BECKLEY |
| Event State | WEST VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 25813 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | RALEIGH COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BKW |
| 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 | 2504 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1908 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 10 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BKW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2504 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 715 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 17 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 51303 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N159PC |
| NTSB Number | BFO93FA049 |
| 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 | BRITISH AEROSPACE |
| Aircraft Model | BAE 3101 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BAE 3101 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 768 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 15212 |
| 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 | Mar 3 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 87 |
| Airframe Hours | 9201 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FIRST SECURITY BANK OF UTAH |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 79 SOUTH MAIN STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | SALT LAKE CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84111 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | USAIR EXPRESS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 100 TERMINAL ROAD, 2ND FLOOR |
| Operator City | CHARLOTTE |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 28208 |
| Operator Code | SABA |
| 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 | CLT |
| Departure City | CHARLOTTE |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1810 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | BKW |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| 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 | 19 |
| Runway Length | 6750 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |