Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Theodore Francis Green St Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Seekonk, Massachusetts 02771
Sunday, November 14, 1993 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DURING A FOUR HOUR IFR CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT, IN CRUISE, THE ENGINE'S DRY AIR VACUUM PUMP FAILED. THE PILOT ELECTED TO CONTINUE TO HIS FINAL DESTINATION, ABOUT 180 MILES AWAY, NAVIGATING BY HIS LORAN. THE PILOT WAS NOTIFIED BY AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL PERSONNEL THAT IN ORDER TO CONTINUE TO HIS DESTINATION, IMC COULD NOT BE AVOIDED. THE PILOT STATED THAT IMC WAS NOT A PROBLEM AND HE CONTINUED THE FLIGHT. DURING A NO GYRO VECTOR APPROACH TO THE LOCALIZER IN IMC, AT AN ALTITUDE OF ABOUT 1,900 FEET MSL, THE PILOT BECAME SPATIALLY DISORIENTED AND LOST CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE. THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED THE TERRAIN AND THE PILOT AND PASSENGER WERE FATALLY INJURED. THE DRY AIR VACUUM PUMP WAS EXAMINED. THE EXAMINATION REVEALED THAT THE INPUT SHAFT OF THE PUMP WAS FACTURED PRIOR TO IMPACT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE IN FLIGHT PLANNING/DECISION TO CONTINUE FLIGHT INTO KNOWN ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS AFTER THE ENGINE'S DRY AIR VACUUM PUMP FAILED AND THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AIRPLANE CONTROL DURING APPROACH. A FACTOR IN THE ACCIDENT WAS THE DRY AIR VACUUM PUMP FAILURE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/14/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 26 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | SEEKONK |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02771 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | THEODORE FRANCIS GREEN ST |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PVD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 11 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 50 |
| Airport Elevation | 55 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 27 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PVD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 55 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 11 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| 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 | 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) | 1934 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 14 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4224H |
| NTSB Number | BFO94FA008 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MOONEY |
| Aircraft Model | MO-20J |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | MO-20J |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-0669 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2740 |
| 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 | Jan 1 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 41 |
| Airframe Hours | 3005 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SHERMAN, LEE ALLEN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 191 DUXBURY |
| Aircraft Owner City | WARWICK |
| Aircraft Owner State | RI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 02886 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SHERMAN, LEE A. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 191 DUXBURY COURT |
| Operator City | WEST WARWICK |
| Operator State | RI |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 02886 |
| 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 | PTK |
| Departure City | OAKLAND PONTIAC |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2058 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PVD |
| Destination City | PROVIDENCE |
| Destination State | RI |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| 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 | 23L |
| Runway Length | 7166 |
| Runway Width | 200 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |