Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Greater Pittsburgh Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Collier Twnshp, Pennsylvania 15031
Wednesday, September 14, 1983 14:31 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DURING ARRIVAL, THE PLT CONTACTED APCH CONTROL & WAS PROVIDED RADAR VECTORS FOR A VISUAL APCH. WHILE ON THE APCH, HE WAS INSTRUCTED TO KEEP HIS SPEED UP UNTIL HE WAS 1 1/2 MI ON FINAL. VECTORS WERE PROVIDE WITH TURNS AS NECESSARY UNTIL THE ACFT WAS 6 1/2 TO 7 MI FROM THE RWY. AT THAT TIME, THE PLT REPORTED THAT HE HAD THE ARPT IN SIGHT. HE WAS THEN INSTRUCTED TO PROCEED INBOUND FOR RWY 32 & TO KEEP HIS SPEED UP AS LONG AS FEASIBLE. THE PLT ACKNOWLEDGED. SHORTLY AFTER THAT, RADIO & RADAR CONTACT WERE LOST. A NUMBER OF WITNESSES HEARD & SAW THE ACFT AT A FASTER THAN NORMAL SPEED. SEVERAL SAW THE ACFT & DEBRIS FALLING AFTER AN IN-FLT BREAKUP OCCURRED. EVIDENCE WAS FOUND THAT THE WINGS & RIGHT HORIZONTAL STABILIZER HAD SEPARATED DOWNWARD & THE LEFT HORIZONTAL STABILIZER HAD SEPARATED UPWARD. THE AILERON, RUDDER & STABILIZER BALANCE WTS WERE STILL IN PLACE. RADAR DATA REVEALED THAT THE GROUND SPEED ON FINAL APCH HAD INCREASED TO 208 KTS. THE NEVER EXCEED SPEED (VNE) WAS 189 KCAS & 197 KIAS. ANOTHER PLT REPORTED LGT TO MOD TURB.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/14/1983 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1431 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | COLLIER TWNSHP |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 15031 |
| Event Date Year | 1983 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GREATER PITTSBURGH INT'L |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PIT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 6 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 140 |
| Airport Elevation | 1202 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1450 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 140 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PIT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1202 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3300 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2914 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 23232 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 9:16AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N84703 |
| NTSB Number | NYC83FA242 |
| 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-32R-301 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32R-301 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-8213011 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 2 1983 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 334 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TRIANGLE AVIATION , INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2750 RIDGEWAY RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | DAYTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45419 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WRIGHT BROS. AERO CORP. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | DAYTON INT'L AIRPORT |
| Operator City | DAYTON |
| Operator State | OH |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | DAY |
| Departure City | DAYTON |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1309 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PIT |
| Destination City | PITTSBURGH |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 8100 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |