Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Dillant-Hopkins Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chesterfield, New Hampshire 03443
Thursday, December 14, 2000 5:22 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to the flight, the pilot telephoned a flight service station. He was provided the current weather conditions along his route of flight, and advised of an AIRMET for occasional moderate rime or mixed ice in clouds and precipitation below 20,000 feet; and the freeing level at or near the surface. About 1 hour into the flight, at 8,000 feet, the pilot advised ATC that he had to descend. He stated that he thought he was picking up ice, and was having an engine problem. ATC vectored the flight to a nearby airport, but the pilot was unable to maintain altitude, and struck terrain about 7 miles from the airport. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the left engine air filter was partially covered with ice, which was about 1/2 inch thick. The filter was recovered after the post crash fire was extinguished. Further examination of the left engine revealed that alternate air valve was in the closed position, and the spark plugs were black and sooty. The airplane was equipped with some deice and anti-ice protection. However, according to the airplane manufacturer and a FAA inspector, the accident airplane and three similar airplanes used by the operator were not certified for flight into known icing. Additionally, none of the four airplanes met the requirements of FAR 135.227(c).
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's continued flight into icing conditions, and his failure to use alternate air. A factor was the icing conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/14/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 522 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | CHESTERFIELD |
| Event State | NEW HAMPSHIRE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 03443 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | DILLANT-HOPKINS AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | EEN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 7 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 225 |
| Airport Elevation | 488 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 535 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 55 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 488 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| 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) | 1.75 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -5 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10035 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 14 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 630 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 17 2001 8:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N55QS |
| NTSB Number | NYC01FA056 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 310Q |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 310Q |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 310Q0001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5300 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 29 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 184 |
| Airframe Hours | 3788 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HARTFORD HOLDING CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 SILVERSIDE RD, SUITE 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 10810 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | ISLAND EXPRESS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 80 WOLF ROAD, SUITE 303 |
| Operator City | ALBANY |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 12205 |
| Operator Code | R9VA |
| 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 | LEW |
| Departure City | LEWISTON |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 420 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ALB |
| Destination City | ALBANY |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 9 2001 4:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 2 |
| Runway Length | 6201 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |