Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Provincetown Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Provincetown, Massachusetts 02657
Monday, August 2, 1993 22:34 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PILOT HAD CALLED FSS 6 TIMES, FROM 1152 TO 2201, FOR WEATHER FOR A VFR FLIGHT FROM CAPE COD AND PROVINCETOWN,MA TO POTTSTOWN,PA. DURING THE 1152, 1254, AND 1401 BRIEFINGS HE WAS ADVISED OF A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT. DURING THE 2018 BRIEFING HE WAS ADVISED OF 2 SIGMETS AND THAT VFR FLIGHT WAS NOT RECOMMENDED. DURING THE THE 2201 BRIEFING HE WAS AGAIN ADVISED THAT VFR FLIGHT WAS NOT RECOMMENDED DUE TO LOW CEILINGS AND FOG IN THE PROVINCETOWN AREA AND FORECASTED IFR CONDITIONS EN ROUTE. SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF FROM PROVINCETOWN, THE AIRPLANE WAS HEARD CIRCLING LOW, AND THEN OBSERVED DESCENDING OUT OF THE CLOUDS. THE RIGHT WING HAD SEPARATED IN FLIGHT. AN AIRLINE PILOT WITNESS ESTIMATED VISIBILITY AT 1 MI. ALTHOUGH A SMALL AREA OF PREEXISTING FATIGUE CRACKING WAS FOUND ON THE LOWER WING SPAR BREAK, EXAMINATION REVEALED THAT THE WING HAD SUSTAINED HIGH LOADS IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO SEPARATION. DURING HIS LAST PHYSICAL DURING 4/93 THE PILOT REPORTED 5 HRS TOTAL NIGHT FLIGHT TIME. CRASH SITE WAS A TRAILER PARK.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT INITIATING VFR FLIGHT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS RESULTING IN SPATIAL DISORIENTATION AND LOSS OF AIRCRAFT CONTROL. DURING HIS ATTEMPT TO REGAIN CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT THE PILOT EXCEEDED THE DESIGN STRESS LIMITS RESULTING IN WING OVERLOAD AND SEPARATION. FACTORS WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE PILOT'S DISREGARD OF THE WEATHER BRIEFER'S ADVISORY THAT VFR FLIGHT WAS NOT RECOMMENDED, THE WEATHER CONDITIONS, THE DARK NIGHT, AND THE PILOT'S LACK OF INSTRUMENT TIME AND NIGHT FLYING EXPERIENCE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/2/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2234 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | PROVINCETOWN |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02657 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PROVINCETOWN |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PVC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 152 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2235 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PVC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 900 |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 1543 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 2 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 10 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 21 2002 3:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\GIUV |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2093A |
| NTSB Number | NYC93FA140 |
| 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-28-181 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-181 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 287990103 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 17 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 |
| Airframe Hours | 11683 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BASCO FLYING SERVICE INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RT 20 |
| Aircraft Owner City | POTTSTOWN |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19464 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2230 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | N46 |
| Destination City | POTTSTOWN |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |