Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Clinton County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Schuyler Falls, New York 12985
Monday, January 29, 1990 20:33 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE CESSNA 208B MADE A TAKEOFF WITH LIGHT WET SNOW FALLING, AT NIGHT. THE AIRPLANE REACHED AN ALTITUDE OF 700 FT AGL PRIOR TO MAKING A STEEP DESCENT, STRIKING TREES AND IMPACTING INVERTED. RADAR DATA SHOWED THE AIRCRAFT LIFT OFF POINT AND INITIAL CLIMB RATE APPROACHED THAT SHOWN IN THE FLIGHT MANUAL FOR SHORT FIELD TECHNIQUE. TWO OTHER CESSNA 208'S PRECEDED THE ACCIDENT AIRCRAFT FROM THE SAME AIRPORT, ONE 13 MINUTES PRIOR AND THE OTHER 3 MINUTES PRIOR. RADAR DATA SHOWED THEY CLIMBED AT A SLOWER RATE. THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE HAD COME FROM A HANGAR AND WAS NOT DEICED PRIOR TO DEPARTURE. A PILOT FLYING A IDENTICAL AIRPLANE WITH A SIMILAR LOAD COMMENTED THAT HIS CLIMB RATE WAS LOWER THAN NORMAL. ANOTHER PILOT COMMENTED THAT THIS WAS THE FIRST WET SNOW OF THE YEAR AND IT WAS STICKING TO HIS ENGINE COWLING.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
LOSS OF CONTROL INFLIGHT AFTER THE AIRPLANE STALLED DURING CLIMBOUT. THE STALL RESULTED FROM A LOSS OF LIFT DUE TO A CONTAMINATED WING SURFACE. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO DE-ICE THE AIRCRAFT PRIOR TO DEPARTURE.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/29/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2033 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | SCHUYLER FALLS |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 12985 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | CLINTON COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PLB |
| 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 | 190 |
| Airport Elevation | 371 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1830 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 10 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PLB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 371 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| 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) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| 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 | Light |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1121 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 30 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 148 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 42340 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 4:44PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N854FE |
| NTSB Number | NYC90FA060 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 208B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 208B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 208B0172 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 8750 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 21 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 91 |
| Airframe Hours | 390 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FEDERAL EXPRESS CORP. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 727 |
| Aircraft Owner City | MEMPHIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 38194 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | E.W. WIGGINS AIRWAYS, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | ACCESS ROAD, NORWOOD MEM. ARPT |
| Operator City | NORWOOD |
| Operator State | MA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 02062 |
| Operator Code | AXSA |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PLB |
| Departure City | PLATTSBURGH |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2031 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SYR |
| Destination City | SYRACUSE |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 19 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |