Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gans, Pennsylvania 15439
Saturday, November 19, 1988 12:07 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DRG A WX BRIEFING BEFORE TAKEOFF, THE PLT WAS ADZD OF ICE PELLETS, CLEAR ICING & MODERATE TO SEVERE TURBC IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. AFTER TAKEOFF, HE OBTAINED AN IFR CLNC AT 1144 EST & WAS EVENTUALLY CLRD TO CLIMB TO 13,000'. THE PLT INQUIRED ABOUT THE CLOUD TOPS & WAS ADZD THEY WERE IN EXCESS OF FL 280. AT 1202 EST, WHILE CLIMBING THRU APRX 11,800', THE PLT REQUESTED CLNC TO RETURN TO THE DEPARTURE ARPT. HE WAS CLRD TO TURN TO 090 DEG, WHILE ATC WAS COORDINATING AN IFR CLNC BACK TO THE ARPT. AT 1203 EST, THE PLT WAS ASKED IF HE WAS HAVING ANY DIFFICULTY & HE REPLIED THAT HE WAS PICKING UP ICE & WAS HAVING A PROBLEM WITH HIS ATTITUDE INDICATOR. AT APRX 1204, THE PLT WAS GIVEN A FREQ CHANGE, & SHORTLY THEREAFTER, RADIO & RADAR CONTACT WERE LOST. BEFORE THE ACFT CRASHED, A WITNESS SAW IT TUMBLING WITH ONE WING MISSING. THE LEFT WING & PIECES OF THE EMPENNAGE WERE FOUND APRX 1/2 TO 1-1/4 MI FROM THE WRECKAGE WITH EVIDENCE OF POSITIVE OVERLOAD.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
PILOT'S BAD JUDGEMENT IN FLYING IN WEATHER CONDITIONS BEYOND THE CAPABILITIES OF HIS AIRCRAFT. THE PILOT OVERSTRESSED THE AIRCRAFT AND SHEARED THE LEFT WING BY MAKING AN ABRUPT TURN IN TURBULENT AIR ABOVE THE DESIGN MANEUVERING SPEED (VA). THE ACCUMULATION OF ICE, FLYING IN IMC CONDITIONS AND A PROBLEM WITH THE ATTITUDE INDICATOR WERE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/19/1988 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1207 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | GANS |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 15439 |
| Event Date Year | 1988 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1650 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 220 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MGW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1248 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| 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 | 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) | 2228 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 19 1988 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 38892 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2153U |
| NTSB Number | NYC89FA036 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28RT-201T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28RT-20 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7931098 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 98 |
| Airframe Hours | 2091 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DANIEL FERRI/JAMES W JACOBS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | RD #2 |
| Aircraft Owner City | EXPORT |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 15632 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | JAMES JACOBS/DANIEL FERRI |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | RD #2 |
| Operator City | EXPORT |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 15632 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 5G8 |
| Departure City | JEANNETTE |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | JAX |
| Destination City | JACKSONVILLE |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |